Cellulomonas phragmiteti sp. nov., a cellulolytic bacterium isolated from reed (Phragmites australis) periphyton in a shallow soda pond

An alkalitolerant and moderately halophilic strain, designated KB23T, characterized by optimal growth at pH 8.0–9.0 and in the presence of 5–7 % (w/v) NaCl, was isolated from a reed (Phragmites australis) periphyton sample originating from an extremely shallow, alkaline soda pond located in Hungary. Cells of strain KB23T were Gram-stain-positive, motile straight rods. Strain KB23T was facultatively anaerobic, catalase-positive, oxidase-negative and contained peptidoglycan type A4β (l-Orn–d-Asp). MK-9(H4) was the predominant isoprenoid quinone and anteiso-C15 : 0, C16 : 0 and anteiso-C15 : 1 were the major cellular fatty acids. The DNA G+C content of strain KB23T was 74.8 mol%. Phylogenetic analysis based on 16S rRNA gene sequences showed that this strain belongs to the genus Cellulomonas and that it is related most closely to Cellulomonas flavigena DSM 20109T (97.35 % similarity), Cellulomonas terrae DB5T (96.81 %), Cellulomonas iranensis OT (96.75), Cellulomonas chitinilytica X.bu-bT (96.60 %), Cellulomonas persica IT (96.53 %), Cellulomonas composti TR7-06T (96.45 %), Cellulomonas biazotea DSM 20112T (96.34 %) and Cellulomonas fimi DSM 20113T (96.20 %). According to these results, together with DNA–DNA hybridization and physiological data, strain KB23T is considered to represent a novel species of the genus Cellulomonas, for which the name Cellulomonas phragmiteti sp. nov. is proposed. The type strain is KB23T ( = DSM 22512T  = NCAIM B002303T).