Hymenobacter artigasi sp. nov., isolated from air sampling in maritime Antarctica

A rod-shaped and Gram-stain-negative bacterial strain, 1B(T), was isolated from an air sample collected at King George Island, maritime Antarctica. Strain 1B(T) is strictly aerobic, psychrophilic, catalase-positive, oxidase-positive and non-motile. Growth of strain 1B(T) is observed at 0-20 degrees C (optimum, 10 degrees C), pH 6.0-8.0 (optimum, pH 8.0) and in the presence of 0-1.0% NaCl (optimum. 0.5% NaCl). Phylogenetic analysis based on 16S rRNA gene sequences places strain 1B(T) within the genus Hymenobacter and shows the highest similarity to Hymenobacter antarcticus VUG-A42aa(T) (97.5%). The predominant menaquinone of strain 1B(T) is MK-7 and the major fatty acids (>10%) comprise summed feature 3 (C-16 omega 7c and/or C-16:1 omega 6c; 32.5%), iso-C-15:0 (17.6%) and anteiso C-15:0 (12.3%). The polar lipid profile consists of the major compounds phosphatidylethanolamine, phosphatidylserine. two unidentified aminolipids and one unidentified phospholipid. The DNA G+C content based on the draft genome sequence is 61.2 mol%. Based on the data from the current polyphasic study, 1B(T) represents a novel species of the genus Hymenobacter, for which the name Hymenobacter artigasi sp. nov. is suggested. The type strain is 1B(T) (=CCM 8970(T)=CGMCC(T)=1.1 6843(T)).