Deinococcus aetherius sp. nov., isolated from the stratosphere

Abstract

A pink-red pigmented, non-motile, coccoid bacterial strain, ST0316T, was isolated from dust samples collected from the stratosphere in Japan. Phylogenetic analysis based on 16S rRNA gene sequences showed that it belonged to the genus Deinococcus. DNA G+C content (69.8 mol%), desiccation tolerance, and resistance to gamma-rays [D10 (dose required to reduce the bacterial population by 10-fold) >8 kGy] and UV radiation (D10 1000 J m−2) supported the affiliation of strain ST0316T to the genus Deinococcus. The major peptidoglycan amino acids were d-glutamic acid, glycine, d-alanine, l-alanine and ornithine. Predominant fatty acids were C16 : 1 ω7c, C16 : 0, C17 : 0 and iso-C17 : 0. Strain ST0316T diverged from recognized species of the genus Deinococcus, showing less than 93.0 % similarity values to its closest relatives Deinococcus apachensis, D. aerius, D. geothermalis and D. murrayi. Strain ST0316T also differed from the type strains of closely related species in its polar lipid profile, nitrate reduction and carbon-source assimilation tests. Therefore, we propose a new species of the genus Deinococcus, Deinococcus aetherius sp. nov. (type strain, ST0316T =JCM 11751T =DSM 21230T).