Paracoccus lichenicola sp. nov., Isolated from Lichen

Abstract

Strain YIM 132242^T, isolated from lichen collected from Pu'er, Yunnan Province, China, was short-rod-shaped, Gram-reaction-negative, aerobic, catalase- and oxidase-positive. Growth of the strain was occurred at 10-39 °C (optimum, 28-35 °C), at pH 4.0-10.0 (optimum, pH 7.0-8.0) and at salinities of 0-8% (w/v) NaCl (optimum, 0-2%). Phylogenetic analyses based on 16S rRNA gene sequences indicated that strain YIM 132242^T belonged to the genus Paracoccus and had the highest levels of sequence similarity to Paracoccus aerius KCTC 42845^T (97.0% similarity), Paracoccus sediminis CMB17^T (96.8% similarity), and Paracoccus fontiphilus MVW-1^T (96.4% similarity). The major fatty acid was identified as C_18:1 ω7c (77.6%). The predominant respiratory quinone was ubiquinone-10 (Q-10). Polar lipid analysis indicated the presence of phosphatidylglycerol (PG), phosphatidylethanolamine (PE), phosphatidylcholine (PC), diphosphatidylglycerol (DPG), an unidentified lipid (L), and three unidentified phospholipids (PL1-PL3). Based on the draft genome sequence, the DNA G + C content of the strain was 67.1 mol%, and the values of average nucleotide identity (ANI) and digital DNA-DNA hybridization (dDDH) of strain YIM 132242^T with Paracoccus aerius KCTC 42845^T were 85.4% and 29.1%, respectively. On the basis of the data from this polyphasic characterization, strain YIM 132242^T represents a novel species of the genus Paracoccus, for which the name Paracoccus lichenicola sp. nov. is proposed. The type strain is YIM 132242^T (= KCTC 72463^T = CGMCC1.17191^T).