Deinococcus arenicola sp. nov., a novel radiation-resistant bacterium isolated from sandy soil in Antarctica

Abstract

A Gram-stain-positive, aerobic, non-mobile and spherical strain, designated ZS9-10T, belonging to the genus Deinococcus was isolated from soil sampled at the Chinese Zhong Shan Station, Antarctica. Growth was observed in the presence of 0–4 % (w/v) NaCl, at pH 7.0–8.0 and at 4–25 °C. Phylogenetic analysis based on 16S rRNA gene sequences showed that strain ZS9-10T formed a lineage in the genus Deinococcus. It exhibited highest sequence similarity (97.4 %) to Deinococcus marmoris DSM 12784T. The major phospholipids of ZS9-10T were unidentified phosphoglycolipid, unidentified glycolipids and unidentified lipids. The major fatty acids were summed feature 3 (C16 : 1  ω7c and/or C16 : 1  ω6c), C16 : 0 and C16 : 1  ω7c. MK-8 was the predominant respiratory quinone. The digital DNA–DNA hybridization and average nucleotide identity values between strain ZS9-10T and its close relative D. marmoris DSM 12784T were 27.4 and 83.9 %, respectively. Based on phenotypic, phylogenetic and genotypic data, a novel species, named Deinococcus arenicola sp. nov., is proposed. The type strain iis ZS9-10T (=CCTCC AB 2019392T=KCTC43192T).