Cnuibacter physcomitrellae gen. nov., sp nov., a novel member of the family Microbacteriaceae isolated from the moss of Physcomitrella patens

A Gram-stain-positive, strictly aerobic and rod-shaped bacterium, designated strain XA(T), was isolated from the moss, Physcomitrella patens, and characterized by using a polyphasic taxonomic approach. The novel strain was non-spore-forming, non-motile, catalase-positive and oxidase-negative. Its optimal temperature for growth occurred at 28-30 degrees C and the optimum pH for growth was 7.0-7.5. The major fatty acids comprised anteiso-C-15 : 0, iso-C-16 : 0, omega-cyclohexyl-C-17 : 0 and anteiso-C-17 : 0. The polar lipids contained diphosphatidylglycerol, phosphatidylglycerol, seven unidentified glycolipids, one unidentified phospholipid and one unidentified lipid. The major menaquinone was MK-11, followed by MK-10 and MK-12. The peptidoglycan type was B2 gamma and contained the amino acids 2,4-diaminobutyric acid, alanine, glycine, 3-hydroxy-glutamic acid and small amounts of glutamic acid. The genomic DNA G + C content of strain XA(T) was 68.2 mol%. Strain XA(T) exhibited highest 16S rRNA gene sequence similarity with Leifsonia lichenia 2Sb(T) (96.3 %) and Humibacter antri D7-27(T) (96.2 %). However, phylogenetic analyses showed that strain XA(T) did not cluster with any species of the genera Leifsonia, Humibacter or other genera of the family Microbacteriaceae and the phylum Actinobacteria. Based on 16S rRNA gene sequence analyses, and the phenotypic and chemotaxonomic data, strain XA(T) is considered to represent a novel species of a novel genus, for which the name Cnuibacter physcomitrellae gen. nov., sp. nov. is proposed. The type strain is XA(T) (=CGMCC 1.15041(T) =DSM 29843(T)).