Psychrobacter sanguinis sp. nov., recovered from four clinical specimens over a 4-year period

Abstract

An analysis of 16S rRNA gene sequences from archived clinical reference specimens identified a novel species of the genus Psychrobacter, of which four strains have been independently isolated from human blood. On the basis of 16S rRNA gene sequence similarity, the closest relatives with validly published names were Psychrobacter arenosus R7T (98.7 %), P. pulmonis CECT 5989T (97.7 %), P. faecalis Iso-46T (97.6 %) and P. lutiphocae IMMIB L-1110T (97.2 %). Maximum-likelihood phylogenetic analysis of 16S rRNA gene sequences showed that the isolates belonged to the genus Psychrobacter and were members of a cluster associated with Psychrobacter sp. PRwf-1, isolated from a silk snapper fish. DNA–DNA relatedness and partial 23S rRNA gene sequences also supported the finding that the isolates belonged to a species distinct from its closest phylogenetic neighbours. The predominant cellular fatty acids were C18 : 1ω9c, C16 : 0, summed feature 3 (C16 : 1ω7c and/or iso-C15 : 0 2-OH), summed feature 5 (C18 : 2ω6,9c and/or anteiso-C18 : 0) and C18 : 0. Biochemical and morphological analysis further supported the assignment of the four isolates to a novel species. The name Psychrobacter sanguinis sp. nov. is proposed. The type strain is 13983T ( = DSM 23635T = CCUG 59771T).