Gryllotalpicola reticulitermitis sp. nov., isolated from a termite gut

Strain TS-56(T) was isolated from the gut of a wood-feeding termite, Reticulitermes chinensis Snyder. Phylogenetic analyses based on 16S rRNA gene sequences revealed that the strain represented a member of the genus Gryllotalpicola of the family Microbacteriaceae, with sequence similarities to other species of the genus ranging from 96.6 % to 97.8 %. The isolate was Gram-stain-positive, non-motile, with light yellow colonies and irregular short rod-shaped cells (0.4-0.6 µm in diameter, 0.6-1.0 µm in length). Growth of TS-56(T) occurred at 20-35 °C (optimum, 30 °C) and at pH 4.0-8.0 (optimum, pH 5.0). The peptidoglycan of TS-56(T) contained ornithine, glutamic acid, alanine, homoserine and glycine. The acyl type was acetyl. The most abundant cellular fatty acid of TS-56(T) was cyclohexyl-C17 : 0 (88.79 %). The respiratory menaquinone was MK-11. The polar lipid profile contained disphosphatidylglycerol, phosphatidylglycerol, phosphatidylcholine, phosphatidylinositol and two unknown glycolipids. DNA of the type strain had a G+C content of 67.4 mol%. On the basis of the phylogenetic properties and phenotypic distinctiveness, TS-56(T) represents a novel species of the genus Gryllotalpicola, for which the name Gryllotalpicola reticulitermitis sp. nov. is proposed. The type strain is TS-56(T) ( = CGMCC 1.10363(T) = NBRC 109838(T)).