Alicyclobacillus mali sp. Nov., alicyclobacillus suci sp. nov. and alicyclobacillus fructus sp. nov., thermoacidophilic sporeforming bacteria isolated from fruit beverages

Six thermo-acidophilic, spore-forming strains were isolated from a variety of juice products and were characterized genetically and phenotypically. According to 16S rRNA and rpoB gene phylogenetic analyses and average nucleotide identity comparisons against the species demarcation cutoff at <95%, these six strains were determined to represent three novel species of Alicy-clobacillus. The isolates were designated FSL-W10-0018^T, FSL-W10-0037, FSL-W10-0048, VF-FSL-W10-0049^T, FSL-W10-0057 and FSL-W10-0059^T. All six isolates were Gram-positive, motile, rod shaped, contained menaquinone 7 as the major respiratory quinone and had ω-cyclohexane C_17:0 as a major fatty acid. They were all able to grow aerobically in a range of acidic and mod-erate thermal conditions. Only isolates FSL-W10-0048 and VF-FSL-W10-0049^T were able to produce guaiacol. The following names are proposed for the three new species: Alicyclobacillus mali sp. nov. (type strain FSL-W10-0018^T=DSM 112016^T=NCIMB 15266^T); Alicyclobacillus suci sp. nov (VF-FSL-W10-0049^T=DSM 112017^T=NCIMB 15265^T); and Alicyclobacillus fructus sp. nov. (FSL-W10-0059^T=DSM 112018^T=NCIMB 15264^T).