Chitinimonas lacunae sp nov., isolated from artificial pond in Korea

A gram-negative, rod shaped bacterium designated as strain H2(T) was isolated from an artificial pond in Korea. The strain H2(T) was able to grow aerobically and anaerobically with optimal growth occurring at 30 degrees C and pH 7.0 under aerobic conditions. Phylogenetic analysis based on 16S rRNA gene sequences showed that the strain H2(T) belonged to the genus Chitinimonas of the family Burkholderiaceae. Phylogenetic similarity calculated from 16S rRNA gene sequences of strain H2(T) and valid species belongs to the genus Chitinimonas ranged from 93.2% (for Chitinimonas taiwanensis cf(T)) to 94.4% (for Chitinimonas prasina LY03(T)), and strain H2(T) formed a tight monophyletic group with them. Predominant fatty acids were C-16 : 0 and summed feature 3, which consisted of C-16 : 1 omega 6c and/or C-16 : 1 omega 7c. The major respiratory quinone of the strain H2(T) was ubiquinone-8, and DNA G+C content was 60.2 %. The polar lipids consisted of phosphatidylethanolamine, phosphatidylglycerol, unidentified aminolipid, and unidentified phospholipid. The biochemical characteristics that distinguished strain H2(T) from other Chitinimonas species included positive cystine arylamidase activity and lacked alpha-chymotrypsin and beta-glucosidase (aesculin hydrolysis) activity. In addition, reciprocal DNA-DNA relatedness between H2(T) and three Chitinimonas strains ranged from 32.0 to 43.7 %. On the basis of its phylogenetic, chemotaxonomic, and genotypic characteristics, strain H2(T) represents a novel species of the genus Chitinimonas. Chitinimonas lacunae sp. nov. is proposed with the type strain H2(T) (= KCTC 52574(T) = LMG 29894(T)).