Description of Tessaracoccus profundi sp.nov., a deep-subsurface actinobacterium isolated from a Chesapeake impact crater drill core (940 m depth)

• Published in: Antonie van Leeuwenhoek 2009-11, Vol.96 (4), p.515-526
• Main Authors: Finster, K. W, Cockell, C. S, Voytek, M. A, Gronstal, A. L, Kjeldsen, K. U
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Aerobiosis; Anaerobiosis; Animals; Bacteria; Bacterial Typing Techniques; Bacteriology; Base Composition; Biodiversity; Biological and medical sciences; Biomedical and Life Sciences; Cell Wall - chemistry; Cluster Analysis; Core drilling; Culture Media - chemistry; Diaminopimelic Acid - analysis; DNA, Bacterial - chemistry; DNA, Bacterial - genetics; DNA, Ribosomal - chemistry; DNA, Ribosomal - genetics; Fatty Acids - analysis; Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology; Geology; Hydrogen-Ion Concentration; Life Sciences; Lipids; Locomotion; Medical Microbiology; Microbiology; Molecular Sequence Data; Original Paper; Phospholipids - analysis; Phylogeny; Plant Sciences; Propionibacteriaceae - classification; Propionibacteriaceae - genetics; Propionibacteriaceae - isolation & purification; Propionibacteriaceae - physiology; RNA, Ribosomal, 16S - genetics; Sequence Analysis, DNA; Sodium chloride; Soil Microbiology; Soil Science & Conservation; Spores, Bacterial; Systematics; Temperature; Vitamin K 2 - analysis
• ISSN: 0003-6072; 1572-9699
• DOI: 10.1007/s10482-009-9367-y

A novel actinobacterium, designated CB31T, was isolated from a 940 m depth sample of a drilling core obtained from the Chesapeake meteor impact crater. The strain was isolated aerobically on R2A medium agar plates supplemented with NaCl (20 g l⁻¹) and MgCl₂·6H₂O (3 g l⁻¹). The colonies were circular, convex, smooth and orange. Cells were slightly curved, rod-shaped in young cultures and often appeared in pairs. In older cultures cells were coccoid. Cells stained Gram-positive, were non-motile and did not form endospores. The diagnostic diamino acid of the peptidoglycan was ll-diaminopimelic acid. The polar lipids included phosphatidylglycerol, diphosphatidglycerol, four different glycolipids, two further phospholipids and one unidentified lipid. The dominant menaquinone was MK-9(H₄) (70%). The major cellular fatty acid was anteiso C15:0 (83%). The DNA G + C content was 68 mol%. The strain grew anaerobically by reducing nitrate to nitrite or by fermenting glucose. It was catalase positive and oxidase negative. It grew between 10 and 45°C, with an optimum between 35 and 40°C. The pH range for growth was 5.7-9.3, with an optimum at pH 7.5. The closest phylogenetic neighbors based on 16S rRNA gene sequence identity were members of the genus Tessaracoccus (95-96% identity). On the basis of phenotypic and phylogenetic distinctiveness, strain CB31T is considered to represent a novel species of the genus Tessaracoccus, for which we propose the name Tessaracoccus profundi sp. nov.. It is the first member of this genus that has been isolated from a deep subsurface environment. The type strain is CB31T (=NCIMB 14440T = DSM 21240T).