Table 1. Physiological and biochemical properties of three isolates.

Characteristic	HL11	spongiae	HL12	B. subtilis	HL13	P. ganghwense
Motility	-	-	+	+	+	+
Oxidase	+	+	+	+	+	+
Ornithine decarboxylase	-	-	-	-	-	-
Lysine decarboxylase	+	-	-	-	-	+
Arginine dihydrolase	-	-	+	+	+	+
Urease	-	-	+	+	-	-
H2S production	+	+	-	-	-	-
Indole production	-	-	-	-	-	+
Citrate utilization	-	-	+	+	-	-
Malonate utilization	-	-	-	-	-	-
Hydrolysis of Gelatin	-	-	+	+	-	+
Nitrate reduction	+	+	+	+	+	+
Salicin	-	-	+	+	-	-
VP test	-	-	+	+	-	-
ONPG	-	-	-	-	-	-
Glucose	+	+	+	+	+	+
Mannitol	-	-	+	+	-	-
Xylose	-	-	+	+	-	-
Inositol	-	+	-	-	-	-
Sorbitol	-	-	+	+	-	-
Rhamnose	-	ND	-	ND	-	-
Sucrose	-	-	+	+	-	-
Lactose	-	-	+	+	-	-
Arabinose	-	-	+	+	-	-
Adonitol	-	ND	-	ND	-	ND
Raffinose	-	ND	-	+	-	ND

+, positive; -, negative; ND: data not described in Bergey's Manual of Systematic Bacteriology [32]; P. spongiae, B. subtilis and P. ganghwense type strains were compiled from Bergey' Manual [32].