Altererythrobacter fulvus sp. nov., a novel alkalitolerant alphaproteobacterium isolated from forest soil.

A novel α-proteobacterium, designated strain S-54, was isolated from forest soil sampled at Kyonggi University and subjected to polyphasic study. Cells were aerobic, Gram-stain-negative, catalase- and oxidase-positive, non-motile, non-spore-forming, rod-shaped and yellow-pigmented. Flexirubin-type pigments were absent. Strain S-54 assimilated lactic acid, d-glucose and 4-hydroxybenzoic acid. Strain S-54 tolerated 4 % NaCl (w/v), and grew optimally at 45 °C and pH 10.5. Phylogenetic analysis based on 16S rRNA gene sequence data revealed that strain S-54 formed a lineage within the class Alphaproteobacteria of the phylum Proteobacteria that was distinct from various members of the genus Altererythrobacter, including Altererythrobacter troitsensis JCM 17037 (96.8 % sequence similarity), Altererythrobacterxinjiangensis S3-63 (96.6 %), Altererythrobacter dongtanensis KCTC 22672 (96.5 %) and Altererythrobacter mangrovi C9-11 (96.5 %). Q-10 was the sole isoprenoid quinone. The major polar lipids were phosphatidylethanolamine, diphosphatidylglycerol, phosphatidylglycerol and sphingoglycolipid. The major cellular fatty acids were C18 : 1ω7c, C16 : 0 and C18 : 1ω7c 11-methyl. The DNA G+C content of strain S-54 was 64.2 mol%. On the basis of the results of phenotypic, genotypic, chemotaxonomic and phylogenetic analysis, strain S-54 represents a novel species in the genus Altererythrobacter, for which the name Altererythrobacter fulvus sp. nov. is proposed. The type strain of Altererythrobacter fulvus is S-54 (=KEMB 9005-542=KACC 19119=NBRC 112676).