Puniceibacterium antarcticum gen. nov., sp. nov., isolated from seawater

Abstract

A Gram-reaction-negative, aerobic, non-flagellated, rod-shaped bacterium, designated strain SM1211T, was isolated from Antarctic seawater. The isolate grew at 4–35 °C and with 0–10 % (w/v) NaCl. It could produce bacteriochlorophyll a, but did not reduce nitrate to nitrite or hydrolyse DNA. Phylogenetic analysis of 16S rRNA gene sequences revealed that strain SM1211T constituted a distinct phylogenetic line within the family Rhodobacteraceae and was closely related to species in the genera Litorimicrobium , Leisingera , Seohaeicola and Phaeobacter with 95.1–96.0 % similarities. The predominant cellular fatty acid was C18 : 1ω7c. The major polar lipids were phosphatidylethanolamine, phosphatidylglycerol, phosphatidylcholine, an unidentified aminolipid and two unidentified phospholipids. The genomic DNA G+C content of strain SM1211T was 60.7 mol%. Based on the phylogenetic, chemotaxonomic and phenotypic data obtained in this study, strain SM1211T is considered to represent a novel species in a new genus within the family Rhodobacteraceae , for which the name Puniceibacterium antarcticum gen. nov., sp. nov. is proposed. The type strain of Puniceibacterium antarcticum is SM1211T ( = CCTCC AB 2013147T = KACC 16875T).