Planococcus antarcticus and Planococcus psychrophilus spp. nov. isolated from cyanobacterial mat samples collected from ponds in Antarctica

Abstract

Thirteen orange-pigmented bacteria associated with cyanobacterial mat samples collected from four different lakes in McMurdo, Antarctica, were isolated. Twelve of the isolates, which were coccoid in shape, were very similar and possessed all the characteristics of the genus Planococcus and represented a new species, which was assigned the name Planococcus antarcticus sp. nov. (CMS 26or(T)). Apart from the phenotypic differences, P. antarcticus differed from all reported species of Planococcus by more than 2.5% at the 16S rRNA gene sequence level. In addition, at the DNA-DNA hybridization level, it exhibited very little similarity either with P. mcmeekinii (30%-35%), P. okeanokoites (26%-29%), or CMS 53or(T) (15%-25%), the three species with which it is closely related at the rRNA gene sequence level (2.5%-2.9%). P. antarcticus also showed only 2.5% difference in its 16S rRNA gene sequence compared with the P. alkanoclasticus sequence. But it was distinctly different from P. alkanoclasticus, which exists only as rods, is mesophilic and phosphatase positive, can hydrolyze starch, cannot utilize succinate, glutamate, or glucose, and cannot acidify glucose. Most important, P. antarcticus and P. alkanoclasticus varied distinctly in their fatty acid composition in that C(15:0), C(15:1), C(16:0), iso-C(16:1), and C(17:0) were present only in P. antarcticus but absent in P. alkanoclasticus. CMS 53or(T), the thirteenth isolate, was also identified as a new species of Planococcus and was assigned the name Planococcus psychrophilus sp. nov. This species was distinctly different from all the reported species, including the new species P. antarcticus, with respect to a number of phenotypic characteristics. At the 16S rRNA gene sequence level, it was closely related to P. okeanokoites (98.1%) and P. mcmeekinii (98%), but with respect to the DNA-DNA hybridization, the similarity was only 35%-36%. The type strain of P. antarcticus is CMS 26or(T) (MTCC 3854; DSM 14505), and that of P. psychrophilus is CMS 530r(T) (MTCC 3812; DSM 14507).

Planococcus faecalis sp. nov., a carotenoid-producing species isolated from stools of Antarctic penguins

“…The major polar lipid of strain AJ003 T was phosphatidylglycerol (Fig. S4), as observed in other members of the family Planococcaceae (Choi et al , 2007; Reddy et al , 2002). The DNA–DNA relatedness values of strain AJ003 T with respect to its closest phylogenetic neighbours were 38.2 ± 0.5 % for Planococcus halocryophilus DSM 24743 T , 32.2 ± 0.2 % for Planococcus antarcticus DSM 14505 T , 21.0 ± 0.3 % for Planococcus kocurii DSM 20747 T and 18.6 ± 1.4 % for Planococcus donghaensis KCTC 13050 T .…”

“…Following the recognition of Planomicrobium as a separate genus (Yoon et al , 2001), Planococcus okeanokoites (Nakagawa et al , 1996), Planococcus mcmeekinii (Junge et al , 1998), Planococcus stackebrandtii (Mayilraj et al , 2005), Planococcus alkanoclasticus (Engelhardt et al , 2001) and Planococcus psychrophilus (Reddy et al , 2002) were transferred to the genus Planomicrobium (Dai et al , 2005), and Planococcus halophilus (Novitsky & Kushner., 1976) was transferred to the genus Marinococcus (Hao et al, 1984). Members of the genus Planococcus have been isolated from variable environments, such as seawater (Yoon et al , 2003), soil (Kocur et al , 1970; Mayilraj et al , 2005), sediment (Romano et al , 2003), cyanobacterial mats (Alam et al , 2003; Reddy et al , 2002) and fish (Hao & Komagata, 1985). Some Planococcus strains have attracted interest because they produce carotenoids of biotechnological significance, and therefore have potential as microbial sources for carotenoids that can be used as cosmetics ingredients, antioxidants and food or feed additives (Lee & Schmidt-Dannert, 2002).…”

The Burning of Biocrusts Facilitates the Emergence of a Bare Soil Community of Poorly-Connected Chemoheterotrophic Bacteria With Depressed Ecosystem Services

“…This species appears able to occupy, rapidly populate, and dominate the same location as biocrusts constituents (the uppermost millimeters of soil), perhaps by exploiting nutrient-rich shifts in soils induced by fire. Planococcus are moderately halophilic heterotrophic (Ventosa et al, 1998) present in cold deserts around the world capable of hydrolyzing starch (Reddy et al, 2002;Mayilraj et al, 2005). In this instance, Planococcus appeared able to rapidly utilize relatively labile starches released after the burn fire without influencing other taxa, as this species was not a hub species in any network or only slightly connected to several other taxa in the shrub model network.…”

Past, Present and Future Climate of Antarctica

“…Around 125 new species of psychrophilic microbes have been discovered of which India has contributed around 20 new species [113][114][115][116][117]. Refs.…”