Acinetobacter wuhouensis sp. nov., isolated from hospital sewage

We recovered eight strains of the genus Acinetobacter from hospital sewage at West China Hospital in Chengdu, China. Based on the comparative analysis of the rpoB sequence, these strains formed a strongly supported and internally coherent cluster (intra-cluster identity of ≥98.0 %), which was clearly separated from all known Acinetobacter species (≤91.1 %). The eight strains also formed a tight and distinct cluster based on the genus-wide comparison of whole-cell mass fingerprints generated by matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization time-of-flight mass spectrometry. In addition, the combination of their ability to assimilate 2,3-butanediol and phenylacetate, but not 4-hydroxybenzoate, and the inability to grow at 37 °C could distinguish these eight strains from all known Acinetobacter species. Whole-genomic sequencing has been performed for two selected strains, WCHA60^T and WCHA62. There were 96.65 % average nucleotide identity (ANI) and 72 % in silico DNA-DNA hybridization (isDDH) values between WCHA60^T and WCHA62, suggesting that the two strains indeed belonged to the same species. In contrast, the ANI and isDDH values between the two strains and the known Acinetobacter species were <83 and <30 %, respectively; both of which were far below the cut-off to define a bacterial species. Therefore, the eight strains should be considered to represent a novel species of the genus Acinetobacter, for which the name Acinetobacterwuhouensis sp. nov. is proposed. The type strain is WCHA60^T (=CCTCC AB 2016204^T=GDMCC 1.1100^T=KCTC 52505^T).