Chitinophaga aurantiaca sp. nov., isolated from a soil sample from a tangerine field

A Gram-stain-negative, facultatively anaerobic, non-motile and rod-shaped bacterial strain, designated THG-SD5.5^T, was isolated from a soil sample collected in a tangerine field, Republic of Korea. According to the 16S rRNA gene sequence comparisons, the isolate was identified as a member of the genus Chitinophaga and to be closely related to Chitinophaga ginsengihumi KACC 17604^T (97.9%) and Chitinophaga rupis KACC 14521^T (97.5%). The 16S rRNA gene sequence similarities with other species of the genus Chitinophaga were in the range 92.8-95.5%. Catalase test was positive. Oxidase test was negative. The DNA G + C content was determined to be 46.1 mol%. DNA-DNA hybridization values between strain THG-SD5.5^T and C. ginsengihumi KACC 17604^T and C. rupis KACC 14521^T were 45.1% and 15.6%, respectively. Strain THG-SD5.5^T was also found to be able to grow at 24-33 °C, at 0-5% NaCl and at pH 5.5-9.0. The major fatty acids were identified as anteiso-C_15:0, C_16:0, anteiso-C_17:0 and C_18:0. The dominant respiratory quinone was identified as menaquinone-7 (MK-7). The polar lipids were found to be diphosphatidylglycerol, phosphatidylethanolamine, phosphatidylglycerol, an unidentified aminolipid, two unidentified phospholipids and three unidentified lipids. Based on these phenotypic, genotypic and phylogenetic characterisations, strain THG-SD5.5^T (= KACC 19338^T = CGMCC 1.16304^T) is concluded to represent a novel species of the genus Chitinophaga, for which the name Chitinophaga aurantiaca sp. nov. is proposed.