Paracoccus liaowanqingii sp. nov., isolated from Tibetan antelope (Pantholops hodgsonii)

Two strains, designated 2251^T and 3058, that were aerobic, Gram-stain-negative, non-motile, coccoid or short rod-shaped bacilli, have recently been isolated from Tibetan antelopes on the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau. The results of phylogenetic analyses of 16S rRNA gene sequences indicated that strains 2251^T and 3058 represent a new species within the genus Paracoccus and are most similar to 'Paracoccus gahaiensis' CUG00006^T (98.9 and 99.3 %), Paracoccus nototheniae I-41R45^T (98.3 and 98.7 %) and Paracoccus hibiscisoli THG-T2.31^T (97.6 and 97.8 %). Results of genomic sequence-based phylogenomic analysis agreed with those from 16S rRNA gene sequence analysis. Optimal growth was achieved at pH 7.0-7.5 and 28 °C with marine medium. Cells contained C_18 : 1 ω7c as the major cellular fatty acid and ubiquinone-10 as the predominant menaquinone. The polar lipids comprised phosphatidylethanolamine, diphosphatidylglycerol, phosphatidylglycerol, phospholipid, glycolipid and an unidentified lipid. The cell-wall peptidoglycan amino acids were meso-2,6-diaminopimelic acid, alanine and glutamic acid; the major cell-wall sugar was galactose. The G+C content of strain 2251^T was 66.5 mol%. Both strains (2251^T and 3058) had DNA-DNA relatedness values less than 50 % with all available genomes of the genus Paracoccus in the ncbi database. Differential genotypic inferences, together with phenotypic and biochemical characteristics, demonstrated that strains 2251^T and 3058 should be classified as a novel species of the genus Paracoccus, for which the name Paracoccus liaowanqingii sp. nov. is suggested. The type strain is 2251^T (=CGMCC 1.16490^T=DSM 106269^T).