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Two strains, 8-4-E12(T) and 8-4-E13(T), were isolated from a biowaste composting reactor. Based on 16S rRNA gene sequences, both strains belong to the genus Bacillus. Strain 8-4-E12(T) was most closely related to the type strains of Bacillus shackletonii, B. acidicola, B. sporothermodurans and B. oleronius (96.4, 96.3, 96.0 and 95.6 % 16S rRNA gene similarity, respectively), whereas strain 8-4-E13(T) was most closely related to the type strain of Bacillus humi (96.5 % sequence similarity). Strains 8-4-E12(T) and 8-4-E13(T) shared 94 % 16S rRNA gene sequence similarity. The fatty acid profile of strain 8-4-E12(T) was dominated by saturated iso- and anteiso-branched fatty acids (iso-C15 : 0, anteiso-C15 : 0, anteiso-C17 : 0 and iso-C16 : 0), and also contained considerable amounts of C16 : 0. The fatty acid profile of strain 8-4-E13(T) showed a predominance of iso-C15 : 0 (65 %), with smaller amounts of other saturated branched-chain fatty acids along with an unsaturated alcohol. Both strains contained diphosphatidylglycerol, phosphatidylglycerol and phosphatidylethanolamine as major polar lipids. Additionally, strain 8-4-E12(T) contained an unknown lipid and strain 8-4-E13(T) two unknown (amino-)phospholipids. The diagnostic diamino acid found in the cell-wall peptidoglycan of 8-4-E12(T) and 8-4-E13(T) was meso-diaminopimelic acid. The predominant menaquinone was MK-7. The results of physiological and biochemical tests also allowed phenotypic differentiation of the two strains from each other and from related Bacillus species. On the basis of their phylogenetic, phenotypic and chemotaxonomic properties, strains 8-4-E12(T) and 8-4-E13(T) represent novel species of the genus Bacillus, for which the names Bacillus pervagus sp. nov. (type strain 8-4-E12(T) = DSM 23947(T) = LMG 27601(T)) and Bacillus andreesenii sp. nov. (type strain 8-4-E13(T) = DSM 23948(T) = LMG 27602(T)) are proposed.

Strains L10(T), L108 and CIP I-2052 were originally obtained from methyl tert-butyl ether (MTBE)-contaminated groundwater and from a wastewater treatment plant, respectively. All share the ability to grow on tert-butanol, an intermediate of MTBE degradation. Cells are strictly aerobic, motile by a polar flagellum and exhibit strong pili formation. Poly beta-hydroxybutyrate (PHB) granules are formed. The DNA G+C content is 69-70.5 mol% and the main ubiquinone is Q-8. The major cellular fatty acids are 16 : 1 cis-9 and 16 : 0 and the only hydroxy fatty acid is 10 : 0 3-OH. The major phospholipids are phosphatidylethanolamine (PE) 16 : 1/16 : 1 and phosphatidylglycerol 16 : 0/16 : 1. A significant amount of PE 17 : 0/16 : 1 is present. The 16S rRNA gene sequences of these strains are almost identical and form a separate line of descent in the Rubrivivax-Roseateles-Leptothrix-Ideonella-Aquabacterium branch of the Betaproteobacteria with 97 % similarity to 16S rRNA genes of the type strains of Rubrivivax gelatinosus, Leptothrix mobilis and Ideonella dechloratans. However, physiological properties, DNA-DNA relatedness values and the phospholipid and cellular fatty acid profiles distinguish the novel isolates from the three closely related genera. Therefore, it is concluded that strains L10(T), L108 and CIP I-2052 represent a new genus and novel species for which the name Aquincola tertiaricarbonis gen. nov., sp. nov., is proposed. The type strain is strain L10(T) (=DSM 18512(T)=CIP 109243(T)).

Strain ZF2T, isolated from freshwater sediment, is a motile, rod-shaped, gram-positive, endospore-forming, amino acid- and pyruvate-utilizing, anaerobic bacterium. It requires yeast extract for growth. Carbohydrates are not utilized. The optimal temperature and pH for growth are 37 degrees C and 6.8-7.3, respectively. The G+C content of the DNA is 34.0 mol %. A 16S rDNA sequence analysis of strain ZF2T revealed that the highest similarity (94.4%) was shared with Clostridium hydroxybenzoicum JW/Z-1T. Strain ZF2T, however, was not able to carboxylate phenol or to decarboxylate 4-hydroxybenzoate, which are characteristic properties of strain JW/Z-1T. The degree of 16S rDNA relatedness, together with the physiological and chemotaxonomic properties, suggest that strain ZF2T represents a novel species that is clearly distinct from Clostridium hydroxybenzoicum JW/Z-1T. In a phylogenetic dendrogram, both strains form a separate cluster that is peripherally associated with the Peptostreptococcus group (cluster XIII) of the clostridia and the lineage of Helcococcus kunzii. Strains ZF2T and JW/Z-1T show a somewhat deeper branching from the cluster XII clostridia Clostridium purinolyticum and Clostridium acidiurici. The latter strains possessed the closest 16S rDNA similarity (between 88.4 and 90.7%), but were clearly separated by phenotypic markers. Therefore, a new genus, Sedimentibacter gen. nov., is described, comprising Sedimentibacter hydroxybenzoicus gen. nov., comb. nov., as the type species of the genus, with JW/Z-1T (= ATCC 51151T = DSM 7310T) as the type strain, and the novel species Sedimentibacter saalensis sp. nov., with strain ZF2T (= DSM 13558T = ATCC BAA-283T) as the type strain.