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Updated: Aug 8, 2026

Removal of Exogenous Materials from the Outer Portion of Frozen Cores to Investigate the Ancient Biological Communities Harbored Inside
Published on: July 3, 2016
Psychrobacter cryohalolentis sp. nov. and Psychrobacter arcticus sp. nov., isolated from Siberian permafrost
Corien Bakermans1, Héctor L Ayala-Del-Río2,1, Monica A Ponder1
1Center for Microbial Ecology and NASA Astrobiology Institute, Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI 48824, USA.
Abstract:
Three Gram-negative, non-motile, non-pigmented, oxidase-positive coccobacilli capable of growth at temperatures from -10 to 30 degrees C and salinities of 0 to 1.7 M NaCl were isolated from Siberian permafrost and characterized. Both 16S rRNA and gyrB gene sequencing studies placed the isolates in the Gammaproteobacteria within the genus Psychrobacter. However, with higher bootstrap values and reproducible tree topologies, gyrB represented a more reliable phylogenetic marker for the taxonomy of Psychrobacter species. DNA-DNA hybridization data supported gyrB tree topologies and established two relatedness groups within the three isolates; neither of these groups was related at the species level to any previously described Psychrobacter species. The two groups of isolates could be differentiated phenotypically from 13 previously described Psychrobacter species using API strips. These results support the existence of two novel species of Psychrobacter, for which we propose the names Psychrobacter cryohalolentis sp. nov. (type strain K5(T) = DSM 17306(T) = VKM B-2378(T)) and Psychrobacter arcticus sp. nov. (type strain 273-4(T) = DSM 17307(T) = VKM B-2377(T)).
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