Rhodoferax potami sp. nov. and Rhodoferax mekongensis sp. nov., isolated from the Mekong River in Thailand

Four newly discovered Gram- stain- negative bacteria, designated as BL00010T, BL00058, D8- 11T and BL00200, were isolated from water samples collected at three hydrological monitoring stations (namely Chiang Saen, Chiang Khan and Nong Khai) located along the Mekong River in Thailand. An investigation encompassing phenotypic, chemotaxonomic and genomic traits was conducted. The results of phylogenetic analysis based on 16S rRNA gene sequences indicated that all four isolates represented members of the genus Rhodoferax. These isolates were closely related to Rhodoferax bucti KCTC 62564T with a similarity of 99.59%. The major fatty acids of the four novel isolates included C16:0 and C16:1 omega 7c and/or C16:1 omega 6c, whereas the major respiratory quinone was identified as ubiquinone Q- 8. In addition, phosphatidylethanolamine was identified as a major polar lipid in these bacteria. The genomes of BL00010T, BL00058, D8- 11T and BL00200 were similar in size (3.88-4.01 Mbp) and DNA G+C contents (59.5, 59.3, 59.5 and 59.3 mol%, respectively). In contrast to R. bucti KCTC 62564T and Rhodoferax aquaticus KCTC 32394T, the newly discovered species possessed several genes involved in nitrite and nitrile metabolism, which may be related to their unique adaptation to nitrile- rich environments. From the results of the pairwise analysis of average nucleotide identity of the whole genome and digital DNA-DNA hybridisation, it was evident that BL00010T and D8- 11T represented two novel species, for which we propose the nomenclature Rhodoferax potami sp. nov., with the type strain BL00010T (TBRC 17198T = NBRC 116413T), and Rhodoferax mekongensis sp. nov., with the type strain D8- 11T (TBRC 17307T = NBRC 116415T).