Two thermophilic, spore-forming strains, TM1(T) and TM5, were isolated from deep-sea sediment (4000 m below sea level) of the Ayu Trough in the western Pacific Ocean. Cells of the two strains were Gram-positive, motile and rod-shaped. Their spores were ellipsoidal, subterminal to terminal and occurred in swollen sporangia. The two strains grew at temperatures up to 65 degrees C and in the pH ra...