Strain 200, isolated from a soil sample taken from Antarctic tundra soil around Zhongshan Station, was found to be a Gram-stain-negative, yellow-pigmented, catalase-positive, oxidase-negative, non-motile, non-spore-forming, rod-shaped and aerobic bacterium. Strain 200 grew optimally at pH 7.0 and in the absence of NaCl on R2A. Its optimum growth temperature was 20 °C. Phylogenetic analysis based on 16S rRNA gene sequences indicated that strain 200 belonged to the genus Sphingomonas. Strain 200 showed the highest sequence similarities to Sphingomonas kyeonggiense THG-DT81 (95.1 %) and Sphingomonas molluscorum KMM 3882 (95.1 %). Chemotaxonomic analysis showed that strain 200 had characteristics typical of members of the genus Sphingomonas. Ubiquinone 10 was the predominant respiratory quinone and sym-homospermidine was the polyamine. The major polar lipids were sphingoglycolipid, phosphatidylethanolamine, phosphatidylglycerol, diphosphatidylglycerol and phosphatidylcholine. The G+C content of the genomic DNA was determined to be 60.9 mol%. Strain 200 contained C16 : 0 (31.6 %), summed feature 8 (comprising C18 : 1ω7c and/or C18 : 1ω6c, 22.7 %), summed feature 3 (comprising C16 : 1ω7c and/or C16 : 1ω6c, 11.2 %), C18 : 0 (7.8 %) and C14 : 0 2OH (6.7 %) as the major cellular fatty acids. On the basis of phylogenetic analysis, and physiological and biochemical characterization, strain 200 should be classified as representing a novel species of the genus Sphingomonas, for which the name Sphingomonasantarctica sp. nov. is proposed. The type strain is 200 (=CCTCC AB 2016064=KCTC 52488).

Strain K2-33028T, which appeared as a brick-red colony on an R2A plate, was isolated from a marine sediment sample from Kings Bay, Svalbard Archipelago, Norway. Phylogenetic analysis based on 16S rRNA gene sequences indicated that K2-33028T represented a member of the genus Hymenobacter. Cells were Gram-reaction-negative, non-spore-forming, aerobic, rod-shaped and without motility. Growth occurred at 4-37 °C (optimum 28 °C) and at pH 6.0-8.0 (optimum pH 7.0). Cells contained menaquinone-7 as the main respiratory quinone and iso-C15 : 0, summed feature 3 (comprising C16 : 1ω7c and/or C16 : 1ω6c), C16 : 1ω5c, summed feature 4 (comprising anteiso-C17 : 1B and/or iso-C17 : 1I) and anteiso-C15 : 0 as the major cellular fatty acids. Phosphatidylethanolamine was predominant in the polar lipid profile. The DNA G+C content was 64.3 mol%. On the basis of phenotypic, chemotaxonomic and phylogenetic data, strain K2-33028T is considered to represent a novel species of the genus Hymenobacter, for which the name Hymenobacterrutilussp. nov. is proposed. The type strain is K2-33028T (=CCTCC AB 2016091T=KCTC 52447T).

A pale pink, Gram-reaction-negative, non-motile, aerobic bacterium, designated MC 3624T, was isolated from a tundra soil near Ny-Ålesund, Svalbard Archipelago, Norway (78° N). Growth occurred at 10-37 °C (optimum 25-30 °C) and at pH 6.0-9.0 (optimum pH 8.0). The predominant fatty acids were C16 : 0 (17.7 %), C18 : 1ω7c 11-methyl (13.4 %), summed feature 3 (C16 : 1ω7c and/or C16 : 1ω6c) (10.1 %) and summed feature 8 (C18 : 1ω6c and/or C18 : 1ω7c) (38.3 %). The major respiratory quinone was ubiquinone-10, and the main polar lipids were phosphatidylethanolamine, phosphatidylglycerol, diphosphatidylglycerol, phosphatidylcholine and an unidentified aminolipids. The DNA G+C content was 68.9 mol%. Carotenoids of the spirilloxanthin series were produced. The nearest neighbour to the novel strain was Roseomonas wooponensis WW53T (94.36 % 16S rRNA gene sequence similarity). On the basis of phenotypic, chemotaxonomic and phylogenetic data, strain MC 3624T represents a novel species of the genus Roseomonas, for which the name Roseomonas arcticisoli sp. nov. is proposed. The type strain is MC 3624T (=CCTCC AB 2014278T=LMG 28637T).

A yellow bacterial strain, designated LRZ-2T, was isolated from High Arctic tundra near the settlement Ny-Ålesund in the Svalbard Archipelago, Norway. The cells were Gram-stain-positive, aerobic and non-sporulating. Phylogenetic analysis based on 16S rRNA gene sequence comparisons revealed that strain LRZ-2T represented a novel member of the suborder Micrococcineae . Its nearest phylogenetic neighbours were the members of the genus Luteimicrobium , with 16S rRNA gene sequence similarity of 95.3–96.9 %. The average nucleotide identity and digital DNA–DNA hybridization values between the genomes of strain LRZ-2T and its closely related strains were 77.4–74.3 % and 21.4–19.6 %, respectively. The DNA G+C content was 72.4 mol%. The peptidoglycan type of the isolate was A4β with an interpeptide bridge comprising l-ornithine and d-glutamic acid. The predominant menaquinone was MK-9 (H4) and the major fatty acids were anteiso-C15 : 0, C16 : 0, anteiso-C15 : 1 A, anteiso-C17 : 0 and iso-C15 : 0. The polar lipids were diphosphatidylglycerol, phosphatidylinositol, phosphatidylinositol mannoside, phosphatidylinositol dimannoside, unidentified phosphoglycolipid, four unidentified phospholipids and two unidentified polar lipids. Strain LRZ-2T showed a 16S rRNA gene signature pattern consisting of nucleotides at positions 120 (A), 131–231 (C-G), 196 (C), 342–347 (C-G), 444–490 (A-U), 580–761 (C-G), 602–636 (C-G), 670–736 (A-U), 822–878 (G-C), 823–877 (G-C), 826–874 (C-G), 827 (U), 843 (C), 950–1231 (U-A), 1047–1210 (G-C), 1109 (C), 1145 (G), 1309–1328 (G-C), 1361 (G) and 1383 (C), which clearly distinguished it from all genera previously reported in the suborder Micrococcineae . On the basis of the phylogenetic, phenotypic and chemotaxonomic data, strain LRZ-2T is considered to represent a novel species of a new genus, for which the name Pengzhenrongella sicca gen. nov., sp. nov. is proposed. The type strain of Pengzhenrongella sicca is LRZ-2T (=CCTCC AB 2012163T=DSM 100332T).

A gamma- and UV radiation-tolerant, Gram-negative, short-rod-shaped bacterial strain, designated X-121, was isolated from soil samples collected from the Taklimakan desert in Xinjiang, China. Strain X-121 showed the highest 16S rRNA gene sequence similarity with Deinococcus depolymerans TDMA-24 (94.7 %). Phylogenetic analysis based on 16S rRNA gene sequences indicated that strain X-121 is a member of a novel species belonging to the clade formed by members of the genus Deinococcus in the family Deinococcaceae. The DNA G+C content of strain X-121 was 63.6 mol%. The chemotaxonomic charateristics of strain X-121 were typical of members of the genus Deinococcus, with MK-8 being the predominant respiratory quinone, summed feature 3 (16 : 1ω7c,16 : 1ω6c), 16 : 0 and 17 : 1ω8c as major cellular fatty acid, several unidentified phosphoglycolipids and glycolipids as the dominant polar lipids, galactose as the predominant cell-wall sugar and the presence of peptidoglycan with l-ornithine. Strain X-121 is therefore identified as representing a novel species, for which the name Deinococcus taklimakanensis sp. nov. is proposed, with the type strain X-121(=CCTCC AB 207228=KCTC 33842).