Acinetobacter sichuanensis sp. nov., recovered from hospital sewage in China

A novel Acinetobacter strain, WCHAc060041^T, was recovered from hospital sewage at West China Hospital in Chengdu, Sichuan Province, China. The strain was Gram-negative coccobacillus, non-spore-forming, non-motile and strictly aerobic. The genomic DNA G+C content was 37.02 mol%. The 16S rRNA and rpoB gene sequences of the strain were ≤98.2 and≤89.5 % identical to the type strains of all known Acinetobacter species, respectively. The strain formed a distinct branch based on the genus-wide comparison of whole-cell mass fingerprints generated by matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization-time-of flight mass spectrometry. Strain WCHAc060041^T was subjected to whole genome sequencing. The average nucleotide identity based on blast (ANIb) and in silico DNA-DNA hybridization (isDDH) values between strain WCHAc060041^T and type strains of other Acinetobacter species were ≤82.7 and ≤26.9 %, respectively. Strain WCHAc060041^T could be distinguished from all known Acinetobacter species by its ability to assimilate gentisate and levulinate, but not to citrate (Simmons'). Genotypic and phenotypic characteristics from this study indicate that strain WCHAc060041^T represents a novel species of the genus Acinetobacter, for which the name Acinetobacter sichuanensis sp. nov. is proposed. The type strain is WCHAc060041^T (=CCTCC AB 2018118^T=GDMCC 1.1383^T=KCTC 62575^T).