Asticcacaulis taihuensis sp. nov., a novel stalked bacterium isolated from Taihu Lake, China.

A novel stalked bacterium, designated strain T3-B7(T), was isolated from sediment of Taihu Lake, Jiangsu Province, China, and its taxonomy was studied by using a polyphasic approach. Cell morphology, physiological and biochemical properties, and polar lipids indicated that strain T3-B7(T) represented a member of the genus Asticcacaulis. Based on 16S rRNA gene sequence similarity analysis, strain T3-B7(T) was found to be phylogenetically related to Asticcacaulis biprosthecium DSM 4723(T) (98.5 %) and Asticcacaulis excentricus DSM 4724(T) (95.0 %), but could be differentiated from these two species on the basis of the number and position of prosthecae, assimilation of sugars, nitrate reduction and tolerance to NaCl. Levels of DNA-DNA relatedness of strain T3-B7(T) to A. biprosthecium DSM 4723(T) and A. excentricus DSM 4724(T) were 37.1 and 18.0 %, respectively. The G + C content of strain T3-B7(T) was 59 mol% (T(m)). It is concluded that strain T3-B7(T) represents a novel species of the genus Asticcacaulis, for which the name of Asticcacaulis taihuensis sp. nov. is proposed. The type strain is T3-B7(T) (=AS 1.3431(T) = JCM 12463(T)).