Pengzhenrongella sicca gen. nov., sp. nov., a new member of suborder Micrococcineae isolated from High Arctic tundra soil

A yellow bacterial strain, designated LRZ-2(T), was isolated from High Arctic tundra near the settlement Ny-Alesund in the Svalbard Archipelago, Norway. The cells were Gram-stain-positive, aerobic and non-sporulating. Phylogenetic analysis based on 16S rRNA gene sequence comparisons revealed that strain LRZ-2(T) represented a novel member of the suborder Micrococcineae. Its nearest phylogenetic neighbours were the members of the genus Luteimicrobium, with 16S rRNA gene sequence similarity of 95.3-96.9%. The average nucleotide identity and digital DNA-DNA hybridization values between the genomes of strain LRZ-2(T) and its closely related strains were 77.4-74.3% and 21.4-19.6%, respectively. The DNA G+C content was 72.4 mol%. The peptidoglycan type of the isolate was A4 beta with an interpeptide bridge comprising L-ornithine and D-glutamic acid. The predominant menaquinone was MK-9 (H-4) and the major fatty acids were anteiso-C-15:0, C-16:0, anteiso-C-15:1 A, anteiso-C-17:0 and iso-C-15:0. The polar lipids were diphosphatidylglycerol, phosphatidylinositol, phosphatidylinositol mannoside, phosphatidylinositol dimannoside, unidentified phosphoglycolipid, four unidentified phospholipids and two unidentified polar lipids. Strain LRZ-2(T) showed a 16S rRNA gene signature pattern consisting of nucleotides at positions 120 (A), 131-231 (C-G), 196 (C), 342-347 (C-G), 444-490 (A-U), 580-761 (C-G), 602-636 (C-G), 670-736 (A-U), 822-878 (G-C), 823-877 (G-C), 826-874 (C-G), 827 (U), 843 (C), 950-1231 (U-A), 1047-1210 (G-C), 1109 (C), 1145 (G), 1309-1328 (G-C), 1361 (G) and 1383 (C), which clearly distinguished it from all genera previously reported in the suborder Micrococcineae. On the basis of the phylogenetic, phenotypic and chemotaxonomic data, strain LRZ-2(T) is considered to represent a novel species of a new genus, for which the name Pengzhenrongella sicca gen. nov., sp. nov. is proposed. The type strain of Pengzhenrongella sicca is LRZ-2(T) (=CCTCC AB 2012163(T)=DSM 100332(T)).