Pseudomonas japonica sp. nov., a novel species that assimilates straight chain alkylphenols

Abstract

A bacterial strain, WLT which was isolated activated sludge, was able to degrade alkylphenols. 16S rDNA sequence analysis indicated that strain WLT belonged to the genus Pseudomonas (sensu stricto) and formed a monophyletic clade with the type strain of Pseudomonas graminis and other members in the Pseudomonas putida subcluster with sequence similarity values higher than 97%. Genomic relatedness based on DNA-DNA hybridization of strain WLT to these strains is 2-41%. Strain WLT contained ubiquinone-9 as the main respiratory quinone, and the G+C content of DNA was 66 mol%. The organism contained hexadecanoic acid (16:0), hexadecenoic acid (16:1) and octadecenoic acid (18:1) as major cellular fatty acids. the hydroxy fatty acids detected were 3-hydroxydecanoic acid (3-OH 10:0), 3-hydroxydodecanoic acid (3-OH 12:0) and 2-hydroxydodecanoic acid (2-OH 12:0). These results, as well as physiological and biochemical characteristics clearly indicate that the strain WLT represents a new Pseudomonas species, for which the name Pseudomonas japonica is proposed. The type strain is strain WLT (=IAM 15071T=TISTR 1526T).