Paucibacter sediminis sp. nov., isolated from sediment in a freshwater pond

A Gram-stain-negative, aerobic, oxidase-positive, weakly catalase-positive, motile by means of a single polar flagellum, rod-shaped bacterium designated as strain S2-9^T was isolated from sediment sampled in Wiyang pond, Republic of Korea. Growth of this strain was observed at 10-40 °C (optimum, 35 °C) and pH 5.5-9.5 (optimum, pH 7.0-8.0) and in the presence of 0-0.5 % NaCl in Reasoner's 2A broth. The major fatty acids (>10 %) of strain S2-9^T were C_16 : 0 and summed feature 3 (comprising a mixture of C_16 : 1  ω7c and/or C_16 : 1  ω6c). Ubiquinone-8 was detected as the respiratory quinone. The major polar lipids were phosphatidylethanolamine and phosphatidylglycerol. Strain S2-9^T showed the highest 16S rRNA gene sequence similarity to Paucibacter oligotrophus CHU3^T (98.7 %), followed by 'Paucibacter aquatile' CR182 (98.4 %), all type strains of Pelomonas species (98.1-98.3 %), Mitsuaria chitosanitabida NBRC 102408^T (97.9 %), Kinneretia asaccharophila KIN192^T (97.8 %), Mitsuaria chitinivorans HWN-4^T (97.4 %), and Paucibacter toxinivorans 2C20^T (97.4 %). Phylogenetic trees based on the 16S rRNA gene and whole-genome sequences showed that strain S2-9^T formed a tight phylogenetic lineage with Paucibacter species (CHU3^T, CR182, and 2C20^T). Average nucleotide identity and digital DNA-DNA hybridization values between strain S2-9^T and Paucibacter strains were 76.6-79.3% and 19.5-21.5 %, respectively. The genomic DNA G+C content of strain S2-9^T was 68.3 mol%. Notably, genes responsible for both sulphur oxidation and reduction and denitrification were found in the genome of strain S2-9^T, suggesting that strain S2-9^T is involved in the nitrogen and sulphur cycles in pond ecosystems. Based on the polyphasic taxonomic results, strain S2-9^T represents a novel species of the genus Paucibacter, for which the name Paucibacter sediminis sp. nov. is proposed. The type strain is S2-9^T (= KACC 22267^T= JCM 34541^T).