Legionella saoudiensis sp. nov., isolated from a sewage water sample

Abstract

A Gram-stain-negative, bacilli-shaped bacterial strain, LS-1T, was isolated from a sewage water sample collected in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. The taxonomic position of strain LS-1Twas investigated using a polyphasic taxonomic approach. Phylogenetic analysis based on 16S rRNA gene sequences and those of four other genes indicated that strain LS-1Tbelongs to the genus Legionella in the family Legionellaceae. Regarding the 16S rRNA gene, the most closely related species are Legionella rowbothamii LLAP-6T(98.6 %) and Legionella lytica L2T(98.5 %). The mip gene sequence of strain LS-1Tshowed 94% sequence similarity with that of L. lytica L2Tand 93% similarity with that of L. rowbothamii LLAP-6T. Strain LS-1Tgrew optimally at a temperature of 32 ºC on a buffered charcoal yeast extract (BCYE) agar plate in a 5% CO2atmosphere and had a flagellum. The combined phylogenetic, phenotypic and genomic sequence data suggest that strain LS-1Trepresents a novel species of the genus Legionella, for which the name Legionella saoudiensis sp. nov. is proposed. The type strain is LS-1T(=DSM 101682T=CSUR P2101T).