Flavobacterium hydrocarbonoxydans sp. nov., isolated from polluted soil

This paper presents a polyphasic taxonomic study of a Gram-stain-negative bacterium designated GA093^T, a soil isolate capable of benzo(α)pyrene degradation. Phylogenetic analysis based on the 16S rRNA gene sequence indicated that strain GA093^T is a member of the genus Flavobacterium, and formed an independent phylogenetic line while clustering with the type strains of Flavobacterium hibernum, Flavobacterium branchiarum and Flavobacterium hydatis. Strain GA093^T was facultatively anaerobic, and could grow at 4-33 °C (optimum, 30 °C), at pH 6-11 (optimum, pH 7) and in the presence of 0-2 % (w/v) NaCl (optimum, 0 %). Strain GA093^T was capable of producing acid from various carbon sources, which was comparable to other related species of Flavobacterium. The strain contained MK-6 as the only isoprenoid quinone, iso-C_15 : 0 as the major cellular fatty acid, phosphatidylethanolamine and phosphatidylinositol as diagnostic polar lipids, and sym-homospermidine as the major polyamine. The chemotaxonomic properties of strain GA093^T were consistent with the general properties of Flavobacterium except the presence of phosphatidylinositol, which distinguished it from other related species. The total stretch of the obtained genome of GA093^T was 5.05 Mbp, and the DNA G+C content was 34.79 mol%. The genome contained genes potentially related to the degradation of aromatic hydrocarbons. On the basis of the present polyphasic analysis, strain GA093^T was found to have properties that distunguished it as representing a novel species of the genus Flavobacterium, for which the name Flavobacterium hydrocarbonoxydans sp. nov. is proposed. The type strain is GA093^T (=KCTC 72594^T=LMG 31760^T).