Table 5: Closest relatives of the Dead Sea mud isolates with their identity percentage. Isolates with more than 97% are considered to be the same species.

Isolate	Close relative	Identity %	GC%
1-DSM	Bacillus crescens strain JC247	96	54
5-DSM	Bacillus persicus strain B48	98	54
7-DSM	Bacillus crescens strain JC247	96	55
24-DSM	Bacillus persicus strain B48	98	55