The present invention relates to discovery and isolation of a biologically
pure culture of a Bacillus odysseyi isolate with high adherence and
sterilization resistant properties. B. odysseyi is a round spore forming
Bacillus species that produces an exosporium. This novel species has been
characterized on the basis of phenotypic traits, 16S rDNA sequence
analysis and DNA-DNA hybridization. According to the results of these
analyses, this strain belongs to the genus Bacillus and the type strain
is 34hs-1.sup.T (=ATCC PTA-4993.sup.T=NRRL B-30641.sup.T=NBRC
100172.sup.T). The GenBank accession number for the 16S rDNA sequence of
strain 34hs-1.sup.T is AF526913.