Sphingopyxis contaminans sp. nov., isolated from a contaminated Petri dish

Strain JC216(T) was isolated from a contaminated Petri dish. Colonies were of pale yellow colour and cells were Gram-stain-negative, oxidase-positive and catalase-positive. Chitin, starch and gelatin were not hydrolysed. Strain JC216(T) contained C18 : 1ω7c/C18 : 1ω6c, C16 : 1ω7c/C16  1ω6c, C14 : 0 2-OH and C16 : 0 as the major (≥ 8%) fatty acids with minor amounts of C12 : 0, C15 : 0 2-OH, C16 : 0 2-OH, C16  : 1 2-OH, C17 : 1ω6c, C17 : 1ω8c and C17 : 1ω9c. Diphosphatidylglycerol, phosphatidylglycerol, phosphatidylethanolamine, phosphatidylcholine and sphingoglycolipid were the major polar lipids. Minor amounts of unidentified amino lipids and unidentified lipids were also detected. The major hopanoids identified were bacterial hopane derivatives and diplopterol. Minor amounts of diploptene and an unidentified hopanoid were also present. Spermidine was the major polyamine with minor amounts of sym-homospermidine and putrescine. N-Acetylglucosamine and fructose were identified as major cell-wall sugars along with minor amounts of mannose and galactose. The genomic DNA G+C content was 55 mol%. Comparisons of the 16S rRNA gene sequence indicated that strain JC216(T) represents a member of the genus Sphingopyxis in the family Sphingomonadaceae within the class Alphaproteobacteria. Strain JC216(T) had a sequence similarity of 97.28% with Sphingopyxis wooponensis 03SU3-P(T) and <96.71% with other members of the family Sphingomonadaceae. Furthermore, strain JC216(T) had 33 ± 1% relatedness (based on DNA-DNA hybridization) with S. wooponensis KCTC 23340(T) ( = 03SU3-P(T)). Distinct morphological, physiological and genotypic differences from the previously described taxa support the classification of strain JC216(T) as a representative of a novel species in the genus Sphingopyxis, for which the name Sphingopyxis contaminans sp. nov. is proposed. The type strain is JC216(T) ( = KCTC 32445(T) = LMG 27671(T)).