Comamonas koreensis sp. nov., a non-motile species from wetland in Woopo, Korea

Abstract

A bacterial strain, designated YH12T, was isolated from a wetland sample collected from Woopo, Republic of Korea, and characterized using a polyphasic approach. Analysis of 16S rDNA indicated that the isolate formed a monophyletic clade with the members of the genus Comamonas. The closest phylogenetic relative among the valid species was Comamonas testosteroni, with 96.6% 16S rDNA similarity. The chemotaxonomic properties of the wetland isolate supported its membership of the genus Comamonas, as it contained ubiquinone Q-8 as a major respiratory quinone and hexadecanoic, methylene-hexadecanoic and octadecenoic acids as major cellular fatty acids. The G+C content of the DNA was 66 mol%. The isolate is a Gram-negative, non-pigmented, rod-shaped, oxidase- and catalase-positive, non-motile, non-endospore-forming and non-fermentative bacterium. The phenotypic properties of the isolate were compared with those of the type strains of Comamonas terrigena, C. testosteroni and Delftia acidovorans. A number of tests, including motility, can differentiate our isolate from related taxa. On the basis of the 165 rDNA phylogenetic, chemotaxonomic and phenotypic evidence given in this study, it is proposed that strain YH12T (=KCTC 12005T = IMSNU 11158T) be assigned as the type strain of a novel species of the genus Comamonas, Comamonas koreensis sp. nov.