Flavobacterium aquaticum sp. nov., isolated from a water sample of a rice field

Strain JC164(T) was isolated from a water sample from a rice field at Jamdih, Mau, Uttar Pradesh, India. Colonies of strain JC164(T) were brown-yellow and cells were Gram-stain-negative. Catalase, oxidase and amylase were present. iso-C(15:0), iso-C(16:0), iso-C15 1 G, iso-C(15:0) 3-OH and iso-C(14:0) were the predominant fatty acids with minor amounts of iso-C(16:0) 3-OH, anteiso-C(15:0), C(16:0), iso-C(16:1) H, iso-C(14:0) 3-OH and iso-C(13:0). Strain JC164(T) contained phosphatidylethanolamine and a few unidentified lipids (L1, L3 and L6) as major polar lipids. Bacteriohopane derivative 1 (BHD1) and diplopterol (DPL) were the major hopanoids. β-Carotene was one among the several spirilloxanthin series carotenoids present in strain JC164(T). Genomic DNA G+C content was 39.6 mol%. 16S rRNA gene sequence comparisons indicated that strain JC164(T) represents a member of the genus Flavobacterium (family Flavobacteriaceae, class Flavobacteriia). The most closely related taxa to strain JC164(T) were Flavobacterium sasangense YC6274(T) (98.5%), Flavobacterium cucumis R2A45-3(T) (98.1%), Flavobacterium cheniae NJ-26(T) (97.2%) and the novel strain possessed <95.1% sequence similarity with other members of the genus Flavobacterium. However, strain JC164(T) showed 12.5 ± 2, 13.6 ± 1 and 17.4 ± 2% genomic DNA association (based on DNA-DNA hybridization) with Flavobacterium sasangense KCTC 22246(T), Flavobacterium cucumis DSM 18830(T) and Flavobacterium cheniae CGMCC 1.6844(T), respectively. The distinct genomic difference and morphological, physiological and chemotaxonomic differences from the previously described taxa support the classification of strain JC164(T) as a representative of a novel species of the genus Flavobacterium, for which the name Flavobacterium aquaticum sp. nov. is proposed. The type strain is JC164(T) ( = KCTC 32196(T) = CGMCC 1.12398=LMG 27251(T)).