Wuhapuella caenivorax gen. nov., sp. nov., a Novel Member of the Family Weeksellaceae, a Flocculent Bacteria Isolated from an Urban Sewage Treatment Plant.

Abstract

A Gram-stain-negative, flocculating strain A-14^T was isolated from the Wuhan wastewater treatment plant. Phylogenetic analysis based on 16S rRNA gene sequence showed that strain A-14^T was most closely related to the family Weeksellaceae and, among genera, was most closely related to genus Daejeonia (Daejeonia ginsenosidivorans NP5^T, 95.54% 16S rRNA gene sequence similarity). The orthologous average nucleotide identity, average amino acid identity, and digital DNA-DNA hybridization values between A-14^T and other species within the families Weeksellaceae and Flavobacteriaceae were 62.2-66.4%, 70.2-72.5%, and 18.0-34.7%, respectively. The growth temperature range was 10-40 °C (optimum 37 °C) and the pH ranged from 5.0 to 8.5 (optimum pH 7.0). The optimum NaCl concentration required for growth was 1% (w/v). Genomic G + C content was 40.9%. Chemotaxonomic analysis of strain A-14^T showed that the major respiratory quinone was MK-6, the predominant cellular fatty acids (more than 10% of total fatty acids) were iso-C_15:0, anteiso-C_15:0, and iso-C_17:0 3-OH, and the main polar lipids were phosphatidylethanolamine (PE), aminolipid (AL), and two unknown polar lipids. The functional analysis of the genome revealed potential genes associated with polyphosphate metabolism, suggesting the strain's capacity for polyphosphate accumulation. This suggests that the strain might be of potential value for the treatment of phosphorus-contaminated wastewater. Based on evidence from phenotypic, chemotaxonomic, and phylogenetic studies, the newly isolated strain A-14^T represents a novel genus within the family Weeksellaceae, for which the name Wuhapuella caenivorax gen. nov., sp.nov. is proposed. The type strain is A-14^T (= MCCC 1K08965^T = KCTC 102291^T).