Abstract

Three Gram-negative, strictly aerobic, chemolithoheterotrophic bacterial strains, designated UCM-30, UCM-33, and UCM-39T, were isolated in South Korea. Based on their 16S rRNA gene sequences, the three isolated strains were found to be similar to Limnobacter thiooxidans CS-K2T (97.41– 97.68%), Limnobacter litoralis KP1-19T (95.55–95.76%), and various genera belonging to the class Betaproteobacteria (90.34–93.34%). DNA-DNA hybridization showed 79.3–83.9% similarity between the genomic DNA of UCM-39T, UCM-30, and UCM-33, while the sequence similarity between UCM- 39T and L. thiooxidans KACC 13837T or L. litoralis LMG 24869T was 23.7% and 18.6%, respectively. The DNA G+C content of UCM 39T was 59.7 mol%, the major ubiquinone was Q-8, and the optimal oxidation rate was observed at 10 mM thiosulfate. The major fatty acids (≥ 10%) were summed features 3 (C16:1ω7c and/or C16:1ω6c) and 8 (C18:1ω7c and/or C18:1ω6c), and C16:0. The major polar lipids (diphosphatidylglycerol, phosphatidylethanolamine, and phosphatidylglycerol) were found in all members of genus Limnobacter. Based on phenotypic, physiological, and phylogenetic analyses, the UCM-39T strain was found to be significantly distinct to represent a novel species affiliated to the genus Limnobacter. We propose to name it Limnobacter humi sp. nov. with the type strain UCM-39T (=KACC 18574T =NBRC 111650T).

• Keywords: Limnobacter humi sp. nov.; taxonomy; chemolithoheterotrophic; thiosulfate oxidizing