Arthrobacter psychrophenolicus sp. nov., isolated from an alpine ice cave

Abstract

On the basis of phenotypic, genotypic and chemotaxonomic characteristics, a novel species belonging to the genus Arthrobacter is described. A facultatively psychrophilic bacterium, strain AG31T, was isolated from an alpine ice cave. The aerobic, Gram-positive, non-spore-forming, non-motile strain exhibited a rod–coccus growth cycle and produced a yellow pigment. Good growth and phenol biodegradation occurred at a temperature range of 1–25 °C. Up to 10 mM phenol was utilized as a sole carbon source. Glucose was not assimilated. Analysis of the 16S rRNA gene revealed that strain AG31T represents a distinct lineage within the genus Arthrobacter, being most closely related to Arthrobacter sulfureus. The level of DNA–DNA relatedness to the type strain of A. sulfureus was 29·9 %. Anteiso-C15 : 0 was the predominant fatty acid (72 %). Strain AG31T exhibited A4α l-lys–l-Glu-type peptidoglycan and contained glucose as the only cell-wall sugar. MK-10 was the predominant menaquinone, and the polar lipid pattern consisted of phosphatidylglycerol, diphosphatidylglycerol, phosphatidylinositol and an unidentified glycolipid. Strain AG31T (=DSM 15454T=LMG 21914T) is assigned as the type strain of a novel Arthrobacter species, Arthrobacter psychrophenolicus sp. nov.