Numerical Taxonomy of Bacillus Isolates from North Sea Sediments

Abstract

A numerical taxonomic study of 138 Bacillus strains isolated from North Sea sediments is presented. The clustering process, based on 63 selected multistate features, resulted in the formation of 2 clusters separated by the Voges-Proskauer reaction. Further subdivision yielded 6 phenons, 1 of which corresponded to the conventional species B. licheniformis. The strains, taken in the order in which they appeared in the dendrogram, exhibited a gradient in the frequency of positive answers to biochemical and physiological tests.