“…Further, the ability of the cultures to utilize carbon compounds as the sole carbon source was checked by supplementing minimal medium [1?05 % K 2 HPO 4 , 0?45 % KH 2 PO 4 , 0?1 % (NH 4 ) 2 SO 4 and 1?5 % agar, all w/v] with 0?5 % (w/v) of the filter-sterilized carbon compound. Nutrient agar was used to check the sensitivity of Sd/3 T to different antibiotics, using commercial antibiotic discs (HiMedia, Mumbai, India (Venkateswaran et al, 2003;Nagel & Andreesen, 1991); 9, Bacillus firmus ATCC 14575 T (Venkateswaran et al, 2003;Nagel & Andreesen, 1991); 10, B. psychrosaccharolyticus ATCC 23296 T (Larkin & Stokes, 1967); 11, Bacillus alcalophilus DSM 485 T (Fritze et al, 1990;Nielsen et al, 1995;Yumoto et al, 2003); 12, Bacillus clarkii DSM 8720 T (Nielsen et al, 1995); 13, Bacillus halmapalus DSM 8723 T (Logan et al, 2002;Nielsen et al, 1995); 14, B. horikoshii DSM 8719 T (Li et al, 2002;Logan et al, 2002;Nielsen et al, 1995) 1988) and analysed as described previously (Reddy et al, 2002). Isoprenoid quinones were extracted according to the method described by Collins et al (1977) and separated by HPLC using a SB-C 18 Zorbax reverse-phase column fixed to a Hewlett Packard Series 1100 HPLC as described previously (Tamaoka et al, 1983;Suresh et al, 2004).…”