Cohnella kolymensis sp. nov., a novel bacillus isolated from Siberian permafrost.

Abstract

A facultative anaerobic, rod-shaped, endospore-forming and non-motile bacterium was isolated from permafrost sediment cores in the Kolyma lowland, Siberia, Russia. The permafrost isolate clustered with members of the genus Cohnella on the basis of 16S rRNA gene sequence analysis and showed the highest sequence similarity to Cohnella saccharovorans CJ22T (96.3 %), followed by Cohnella cellulosilytica FCN3-3T (96.0 %) and Cohnella panacarvi KCTC 13060T (96.0 %). The chemotaxonomic characteristics (quinone system, cellular fatty acids and polar lipid profile) of strain 20.16T were consistent with members of the genus Cohnella. The peptidoglycan diaminoacids included meso-diaminopimelic acid and a small amount of ll-diaminopimelic acid. The molar ratio and composition of major amino acids (meso-diaminopimelic acid, alanine, and glutamic acid) correspond to the peptydoglycan type A1γ. The estimated genome size of strain 20.16T is 4.34 Mb (lower than those in other Cohnella species). The genome has a G+C content of 50.5 mol% and encodes 4843 predicted genes, of these 4740 are protein-coding ones. The results of chemotaxonomic, physiological and biochemical characterization allowed clear differentiation of strain 20.16T from the closest Cohnella species. Based on data provided, a new species Cohnella kolymensis sp. nov. is proposed, with 20.16T (=VKM B-2846T=DSM 104983T) as the type strain.