Paenibacillus psychroresistens sp. nov., isolated from the soil of an Arctic glacial retreat.

Strain ML311-T8 was isolated from a glacial retreat area in Svalbard, Norway, and was taxonomically characterized by a polyphasic approach. Upon phylogenetic analysis, strain ML311-T8 was clustered with Paenibacillus arcticus MME2_ R6 and P. contaminans CKOBP-6 with 98.3-98.6 and 93.5-93.9% 16S rRNA gene sequence similarities, respectively. DNA-DNA hybridization values between strain ML311-T8 and P. arcticus MME2_R6 was 19.9%. The genomic DNA G+C content was 41.1 mol%. The isolated strain was Gram-stain-positive, strictly aerobic and rod-shaped, and grew in 0-0.5% (w/v) NaCl, at 4-23°C and pH 6.0-10.0, with optimal growth in 0% (w/v) NaCl, at 20°C and pH 7.0-8.0. The predominant respiratory quinone of strain ML311-T8 was MK-7 and the major fatty acids were anteiso-C and C. The polar lipids of strain ML311-T8 were phosphatidylglycerol, phosphatidylethanolamine, diphosphatidylglycerol, three unidentified amino lipids, and three unidentified lipids. On the basis of polyphasic taxonomic analysis, the strain ML311-T8 is proposed to represent a novel species of the genus Paenibacillus, for which the name Paenibacillus psychroresistens sp. nov. is proposed. The type strain is ML311-T8 (= KCCM 43190 = JCM 31243).