Chitinophaga fulva sp. nov., isolated from forest soil

Abstract

An aerobic, Gram-stain-negative, oxidase- and catalase-positive, non-motile, non-spore-forming, rod-shaped and yellow-coloured bacterium designated strain G-6-1-13T was isolated from Gwanggyo mountain forest soil. Strain G-6-1-13T could grow at 15–40 °C (optimum, 20–32 °C), pH 4.5–10.5 (optimum, pH 6.0–9.0), at 2 % (w/v) NaCl concentration, and produced flexirubin-type pigments. Phylogenetic analysis based on its 16S rRNA gene sequence showed that strain G-6-1-13T formed a lineage within the genus Chitinophaga that was distinct from other species of the genus. Closest member was Chitinophaga varians 10–7 W-9003T (98.6 % sequence similarity) followed by C. eiseniae DSM 22224T (98.4 %), C. qingshengii JN246T (97.6 %) and C. terrae KP01T (97.4%). The major cellular fatty acids were iso-C15 : 0, C16 : 1  ω5c, and summed feature 3 (iso-C15 : 0 2-OH and/or C16 : 1  ω6c). MK-7 was the sole respiratory quinone. The major polar lipids were phosphatidylethanolamine and an unidentified phospholipid. The DNA G+C content of strain G-6-1-13T was 48.7 mol%. Average nucleotide identity and in silico DNA–DNA hybridization were below the species threshold. On the basis of phenotypic, genotypic, phylogenetic and chemotaxonomic characterization, G-6-1-13T represents a novel species in the genus Chitinophaga , for which the name Chitinophaga fulva sp. nov. is proposed. The type strain is G-6-1-13T (=KACC 21624T=NBRC 114361T).