Aquitalea palustris sp. nov., isolated from a wild cranberry bog in the Cape Cod National Seashore

Abstract

A novel species in the genus Aquitalea was isolated from soil and plant surfaces in wild cranberry bogs of the Cape Cod National Seashore. Aquitalea is a little-known genus in the family Chromobacteriaceae (betaproteobacteria) that is associated with freshwater habitats. As part of a culture-dependent comparative survey of bacteria in wild and cultivated cranberry bogs in Massachusetts, strains MWU14-2217T and MWU14-2470 were characterized for taxonomic placement by phenotypic and genotypic testing, and confirmed by genome comparison with a third isolate, MWU14-2238. Genome analysis methods placed the isolates in the genus Aquitalea with >98.54 % 16S rRNA gene sequence similarity each to the four recognized Aquitalea species, but with a DNA–DNA relatedness of 46 % by digital DNA–DNA hybridization (formula d4) and 91.92 % by orthologous average nucleotide identity with usearch with its closest relative. DNA G+C content of the three isolates ranged from 60.11 to 60.28 mol%. The strains are facultatively anaerobic, motile and reduce NO3. They are non-pigmented, non-haemolytic on sheep blood agar, grow on mannitol but not on citrate, and do not produce urease or HCN. The predominant fatty acids of both isolates were C16 : 0 and summed C16 : 1ω7c/C16  : 1ω6c. Using a combination of phylogenetic, physiological and phenotypic characterization, isolates MWU14-2217T, MWU14-2470 and MWU14-2238 represent a novel species within the genus Aquitalea , for which the name Aquitalea palustris sp. nov. is proposed. The type strain is MWU14-2217T (=CCOS 1980T=ATCC TSD-261T).