Aquabacterium lacunae sp. nov., isolated from a freshwater pond

A novel bacterial strain, designated KMB7^T, isolated from a freshwater pond in Taiwan, was characterized using a polyphasic taxonomic approach. Cells were Gram-stain-negative, motile by means of a single polar flagellum, rod-shaped and formed cream colonies. Optimal growth occurred at 25 °C, pH 7, and in the absence of NaCl. Phylogenetic analyses based on 16S rRNA gene sequences and an up-to-date bacterial core gene set (92 protein clusters) indicated that strain KMB7^T is affiliated with species in the genus Aquabacterium. The 16S rRNA gene sequence similarity indicated that strain KMB7^T is closely related to species within the genus Aquabacterium (95.2-97.6 % sequence similarity) and is most similar to A. fontiphilum CS-6^T (97.6 %), followed by A. parvum B6^T (97.5 %). The average nucleotide identity and digital DNA-DNA hybridization identity between strain KMB7^T and the closely related strains were 74.6-78.0 % and 19.0-21.2 %, respectively. The major fatty acids of strain KMB7^T were summed feature 3 (C_16 : 1  ω7c and/or C_16 : 1  ω6c), C_18 : 1  ω7c and C_16 : 0. The polar lipid profile consisted of a mixture of phosphatidylethanolamine, phosphatidylglycerol, phosphatidylserine, diphosphatidylglycerol and four unidentified phospholipids. The sole isoprenoid quinone was ubiquinone-8 (Q-8). Genomic DNA G+C content of strain KMB7^T was 65.4 %. On the basis of phenotypic and genotypic properties and phylogenetic inference, strain KMB7^T should be classified in a novel species of the genus Aquabacterium, for which the name Aquabacterium lacunae sp. nov. is proposed. The type strain is KMB7^T (=BCRC 81156^T=LMG 30924^T=KCTC 62867^T).