Magnetospira thiophila gen. nov., sp nov., a marine magnetotactic bacterium that represents a novel lineage within the Rhodospirillaceae (Alphaproteobacteria)
Creator
Williams T J; Lefevre C T; Zhao W D; Beveridge T J; Bazylinski D A
Publisher
International Journal of Systematic and Evolutionary Microbiology
Date
2012
2012-10
Description
A marine, magnetotactic bacterium, designated strain MMS-1(T), was isolated from mud and water from a salt marsh in Woods Hole, Massachusetts, USA, after enrichment in defined oxygen-concentration/redox-gradient medium. Strain MMS-1(T) is an obligate microaerophile capable of chemoorganoheterotrophic and chemolithoautotrophic growth. Optimal growth occurred at pH 7.0 and 24-26 degrees C. Chemolithoautotrophic growth occurred with thiosulfate as the electron donor and autotrophic carbon fixation was via the Calvin-Benson-Bassham cycle. The G + C content of the DNA of strain MMS-1(T) was 47.2 mol%. Cells were Gram-negative and morphologically variable, with shapes that ranged from that of a lima bean to fully helical. Cells were motile by means of a single flagellum at each end of the cell (amphitrichous). Regardless of whether grown in liquid or semi-solid cultures, strain MMS-1(T) displayed only polar magnetotaxis and possessed a single chain of magnetosomes containing elongated octahedral crystals of magnetite, positioned along the long axis of the cell. Phylogenetic analysis based on 16S rRNA gene sequences indicated that strain MMS-1(T) belongs to the family Rhodospirillaceae within the Alphaproteobacteria, and is distantly related to species of the genus Magnetospirillum. Strain MMS-1(T) is therefore considered to represent a novel species of a new genus, for which the name Magnetospira thiophila gen. nov., sp. nov. is proposed. The type strain of Magnetospira thiophila is MMS-1(T) (=ATCC BAA-1438(T)=JCM 17960(T)).
Subject
16s ribosomal-rna; coccus strain mc-1; culture; membrane; Microbiology; mv-1; protein mamk; salt pond; sea; spirillum; USA