Steroidobacter gossypii sp. nov., isolated from cotton field soil

A Gram-negative bacterium, designated S1-65(T), was isolated from soil samples collected from a cotton field located in the Xinjiang region of PR China. Results of 16S rRNA gene sequence analysis revealed that strain S1-65(T) was affiliated to the genus Steroidobacter with its closest phylogenetic relatives being 'Steroidobacter cummioxidans' 35Y (98.4%), 'Steroidobacter agaridevorans' SA29-B (98.3%) and Steroidobacter agariperforans KA5-B-T (98.3 %). 16S rRNA-directed phylogenetic analysis showed that strain S1-65(T) formed a unique phylogenetic subclade next to 'S. agaridevorans' SA29-B and S. agariperforans KA5-B-T, suggesting that strain S1-65(T) should be identified as a member of the genus Steroidobacter. Further, substantial differences between the genotypic properties of strain S1-65(T) and the members of the genus Steroidobacter, including average nucleotide identity and digital DNA-DNA hybridization, resolved the taxonomic position of strain S1-65(T) and suggested its positioning as representing a novel species of the genus Steroidobacter. The DNA G+C content of strain S1-65(T) was 62.5mol%, based on its draft genome sequence. The predominant respiratory quinone was ubiquinone-8. The main fatty acids were identified as summed feature 3 (C 16:1.6c/C-16:1 omega 7c), C-16:0 and iso-C-15:0. In addition, its polar lipid profile was composed of aminophospholipid, diphosphatidylglycerol, phosphatidylethanolamine and phosphatidylglycerol. Here, we propose a novel species of the genus Steroidobacter: Steroidobacter gossypii sp. nov. with the type strain S1-65T (=JCM 34287(T)=CGMCC 1.18736(T)).