Phycicoccus aerophilus sp. nov., isolated from air

Abstract

A Gram-positive, short rod-shaped, non-spore-forming bacterium, designated 5516T-20T, was isolated from an air sample. The results of 16S rRNA gene sequence analyses showed that strain 5516T-20T belonged to the family Intrasporangiaceae, having the highest sequence similarities (97.5 and 96.1%, respectively) with respect to the type strains of Phycicoccus dokdonensis and Phycicoccus jejuensis. The value for DNA-DNA hybridization between 5516T-20T and P. dokdonensis DS-8T was 41%. Strain 5516T-20T contained menaquinone MK-8(H4) as the major isoprenoid quinone, possessed phosphatidylethanolamine, phosphatidylinositol and diphosphatidylglycerol as the polar lipids and contained glucose and ribose as whole-cell sugars. The major fatty acids were C17: 1ω8c, iso-C16:0, iso-C15:0, C17:0 and iso-C14:0. The G + C content of the DNA from strain 5516T-20T was 70.5 mol%. On the basis of the data from the polyphasic taxonomic study, strain 5516T-20T represents a novel species within the genus Phycicoccus, for which the name Phycicoccus aerophilus sp. nov. is proposed. The type strain is 5516T-20T (=KACC 20658T =DSM 18548T). © 2008 IUMS.