Croceimicrobium hydrocarbonivorans gen. nov., sp. nov., a novel marine bacterium isolated from a bacterial consortium that degrades polyethylene terephthalate.

Abstract

A novel Gram-stain-negative, aerobic, gliding, rod-shaped and carotenoid-pigmented bacterium, designated A20-9T, was isolated from a microbial consortium of polyethylene terephthalate enriched from a deep-sea sediment sample from the Western Pacific. Growth was observed at salinities of 1-8 %, at pH 6.5-8 and at temperatures of 10-40 °C. The results of phylogenetic analyses based on the genome indicated that A20-9T formed a monophyletic branch affiliated to the family Schleiferiaceae, and the 16S rRNA gene sequences exhibited the maximum sequence similarity of 93.8 % with Owenweeksia hongkongensis DSM 17368T, followed by similarities of 90.4, 90.1 and 88.8 % with Phaeocystidibacter luteus MCCC 1F01079T, Vicingus serpentipes DSM 103558T and Salibacter halophilus MCCC 1K02288T, respectively. Its complete genome size was 4 035 598 bp, the genomic DNA G+C content was 43.2 mol%. Whole genome comparisons indicated that A20-9T and O. hongkongensis DSM 17368T shared 67.8 % average nucleotide identity, 62.7 % average amino acid identity value, 46.6% of conserved proteins and 17.8 % digital DNA-DNA hybridization identity. A20-9T contained MK-7 as the major respiratory quinone. Its major polar lipids were diphosphatidylglycerol, phosphatidylglycerol, phosphatidylethanolamine and phospatidylcholine; and the major fatty acids were iso-C15 : 0 (37.5 %), iso-C16 : 0 3-OH (12.4 %), and summed feature 3 (C16 : 1ω7c /C16 : 1ω6c, 11.6 %). Combining the genotypic and phenotypic data, A20-9T could be distinguished from the members of other genera within the family Schleiferiaceae and represents a novel genus, for which the name Croceimicrobium hydrocarbonivorans gen. nov., sp. nov. is proposed. The type strain is A20-9T (=MCCC 1A17358T =KCTC 72878T).