Flavobacterium antarcticum sp. nov., a novel psychrotolerant bacterium isolated from the Antarctic

Abstract

A yellow-pigmented, Gram-negative and aerobic bacterial strain, designated AT1026T, was isolated from a terrestrial sample from the Antarctic. Results of 16S rRNA gene sequence analysis indicated that the Antarctic isolate belonged to the genus Flavobacterium, with the highest sequence similarity to Flavobacterium tegetincola (96.4%). Cells were non-motile, non-gliding and psychrotolerant, with optimum and maximum temperatures of about 20 and 25 °C. Flexirubins were absent. The major isoprenoid quinone (MK-6), predominant cellular fatty acids (iso-C15:1 G, iso-C15:0 and a mixture of C16:1ω7c and/or iso-C15:0 2-OH) and DNA G+C content (38 mol%) of the Antarctic isolate were consistent with those of the genus Flavobacterium. In contrast, several phenotypic characters can be used to differentiate this isolate from other flavobacteria. The polyphasic data presented in this study indicated that this isolate should be classified as a novel species in the genus Flavobacterium. The name Flavobacterium antarcticum sp. nov. is therefore proposed for the Antarctic isolate; the type strain is AT1026T (=IMSNU 14042T=KCTC 12222T=JCM 12383T). © 2005 IUMS.