Abstract
This study presents taxonomic description of two novel diesel-degrading, psychrophilic strains: Kopri-42T and Kopri-43, isolated during screening of oil-degrading psychrotrophs from oil-contaminated Arctic soil. A preliminary 16S rRNA gene sequence and phylogenetic tree analysis indicated that these Arctic strains belonged to the genus Flavobacterium, with the nearest relative being Flavobacterium psychrolimnae LMG 22018T (98.9% sequence similarity). The pairwise 16S rRNA gene sequence identity between strains Kopri-42T and Kopri-43 was 99.7%. The DNA-DNA hybridization value between strain Kopri-42T and Kopri-43 was 88.6 ± 2.1% indicating that Kopri-42T and Kopri-43 represents two strains of the same genomospecies. The average nucleotide identity and in silico DNA-DNA hybridization values between strain Kopri-42T and nearest relative F. psychrolimnae LMG 22018T were 92.4% and 47.9%, respectively. These values support the authenticity of the novel species and confirmed the strain Kopri-42T belonged to the genus Flavobacterium as a new member. The morphological, physiological, biochemical and chemotaxonomic data also distinguished strain Kopri-42T from its closest phylogenetic neighbors. Based on the polyphasic data, strains Kopri-42T and Kopri-43 represents a single novel species of the genus Flavobacterium, for which the name Flavobacterium petrolei sp. nov. is proposed. The type strain is Kopri-42T (=KEMB 9005-710T = KACC 19625T = NBRC 113374T).
Highlights
Arctic strains belonged to the genus Flavobacterium, with the nearest relative being Flavobacterium psychrolimnae LMG 22018T (98.9% sequence similarity)
The genus Flavobacterium belonging to the family Flavobacteriaceae of the phylum Bacteroidetes was first established by Bergey et al.[6] and later its emended description was provided by Bernardet et al.[7]
The comparative analysis of 16S rRNA gene sequence using the EZBioCloud server revealed that the strains Kopri-42T and Kopri-43 belong to the genus Flavobacterium and shared highest sequence similarity with F. psychrolimnae LMG 22018T (98.9% and 99.3%, respectively)
Summary
The nearly complete length of 16S rRNA gene sequences of the strains Kopri-42T and Kopri-43 were 1,444 and 1,438 bps, respectively. The 16S rRNA gene sequence identities between the type strain Kopri-42T and the closest phylogenetic relatives were in the range of 98.9–97.7%, which were below the threshold value of 98.7–99.0% used for species demarcation of prokaryotes[17,18]. Statistical analysis showed that the rates of diesel degradation between various treatment conditions were significantly different (p < 0.05) This result indicates that strain Kopri-42T and Kopri-43 can be used as biological agent for remediating diesel oil from cold environments. The genome sequence characteristics, OrthoANIu and DDH values, and REP-PCR confirm that both strains represent single novel species Both psychrophilic strains can degrade diesel oil and able to thrive in oil-contaminated cold environments indicating their significance in the bioremediation field. The formal proposal of the new species name Flavobacterium petrolei sp. nov. is given in the Table S1 with the TaxonNumber TA00628 (http://imedea.uib-csic.es/dprotologue/edit_entryForm. php?form_id=10891&entry_id=628)
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Free) 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a call
