Altererythrobacter fulvus sp nov., a novel alkalitolerant alphaproteobacterium isolated from forest soil

A novel alpha-proteobacterium, designated strain S-54(T), was isolated from forest soil sampled at Kyonggi University and subjected to polyphasic study. Cells were aerobic, Gram-stain-negative, catalase- and oxidase-positive, non-motile, non-spore-forming, rod-shaped and yellow-pigmented. Flexirubin-type pigments were absent. Strain S-54T assimilated lactic acid, D-glucose and 4-hydroxybenzoic acid. Strain S-54(T) tolerated 4% NaCl (w/v), and grew optimally at 45 degrees C and pH 10.5. Phylogenetic analysis based on 16S rRNA gene sequence data revealed that strain S-54(T) formed a lineage within the class Alphaproteobacteria of the phylum Proteobacteria that was distinct from various members of the genus Altererythrobacter, including Altererythrobacter troitsensis JCM 17037(T) (96.8% sequence similarity), Altererythrobacter xinjiangensis S3-63(T) (96.6 %), Altererythrobacter dongtanensis KCTC 22672(T) (96.5 %) and Altererythrobacter mangrovi C9-11(T) (96.5 %). Q-10 was the sole isoprenoid quinone. The major polar lipids were phosphatidylethanolamine, diphosphatidylglycerol, phosphatidylglycerol and sphingoglycolipid. The major cellular fatty acids were C-18:1 omega 7c, C-16 : (0) and C-18 : 1 omega 7c 11-methyl. The DNA G+C content of strain S-54(T) was 64.2 mol%. On the basis of the results of phenotypic, genotypic, chemotaxonomic and phylogenetic analysis, strain S-54(T) represents a novel species in the genus Altererythrobacter, for which the name Altererythrobacter fulvus sp. nov. is proposed. The type strain of Altererythrobacter fulvus is S-54(T) (=KEMB 9005-542(T)=KACC 19119(T)=NBRC 112676(T)).