Pengzhenrongella sicca gen. nov., sp. nov., a new member of suborder Micrococcineae isolated from High Arctic tundra soil

Abstract

A yellow bacterial strain, designated LRZ-2T, was isolated from High Arctic tundra near the settlement Ny-Ålesund in the Svalbard Archipelago, Norway. The cells were Gram-stain-positive, aerobic and non-sporulating. Phylogenetic analysis based on 16S rRNA gene sequence comparisons revealed that strain LRZ-2T represented a novel member of the suborder Micrococcineae . Its nearest phylogenetic neighbours were the members of the genus Luteimicrobium , with 16S rRNA gene sequence similarity of 95.3–96.9 %. The average nucleotide identity and digital DNA–DNA hybridization values between the genomes of strain LRZ-2T and its closely related strains were 77.4–74.3 % and 21.4–19.6 %, respectively. The DNA G+C content was 72.4 mol%. The peptidoglycan type of the isolate was A4β with an interpeptide bridge comprising l-ornithine and d-glutamic acid. The predominant menaquinone was MK-9 (H4) and the major fatty acids were anteiso-C15 : 0, C16 : 0, anteiso-C15 : 1 A, anteiso-C17 : 0 and iso-C15 : 0. The polar lipids were diphosphatidylglycerol, phosphatidylinositol, phosphatidylinositol mannoside, phosphatidylinositol dimannoside, unidentified phosphoglycolipid, four unidentified phospholipids and two unidentified polar lipids. Strain LRZ-2T showed a 16S rRNA gene signature pattern consisting of nucleotides at positions 120 (A), 131–231 (C-G), 196 (C), 342–347 (C-G), 444–490 (A-U), 580–761 (C-G), 602–636 (C-G), 670–736 (A-U), 822–878 (G-C), 823–877 (G-C), 826–874 (C-G), 827 (U), 843 (C), 950–1231 (U-A), 1047–1210 (G-C), 1109 (C), 1145 (G), 1309–1328 (G-C), 1361 (G) and 1383 (C), which clearly distinguished it from all genera previously reported in the suborder Micrococcineae . On the basis of the phylogenetic, phenotypic and chemotaxonomic data, strain LRZ-2T is considered to represent a novel species of a new genus, for which the name Pengzhenrongella sicca gen. nov., sp. nov. is proposed. The type strain of Pengzhenrongella sicca is LRZ-2T (=CCTCC AB 2012163T=DSM 100332T).