Paracoccus benzoatiresistens sp. nov., a benzoate resistance and selenite reduction bacterium isolated from wetland

A Gram-stain-negative, aerobic, non-motile, catalase- and oxidase-positive, pale orange, rod-shaped strain EF6^T, was isolated from a natural wetland reserve in Hebei province, China. The strain grew at 25–37 °C (optimum, 30 °C), pH 5–9 (optimum, pH 7), and in the presence of 1.0–4.0% (w/v) NaCl (optimum, 2%). A phylogenetic analysis based on 16S rRNA gene sequence revealed that strain EF6^T belongs to the genus Paracoccus, and the closest members were Paracoccus shandongensis wg2^T with 98.1% similarity, Paracoccus fontiphilus MVW-1 ^T (97.9%), Paracoccus everestensis S8-55 ^T (97.7%), Paracoccus subflavus GY0581^T (97.6%), Paracoccus sediminis CMB17^T (97.3%), Paracoccus caeni MJ17^T (97.0%), and Paracoccus angustae E6^T (97.0%). The genome size of strain EF6^T was 4.88 Mb, and the DNA G + C content was 65.3%. The digital DNA-DNA hybridization, average nucleotide identity, and average amino acid identity values between strain EF6^T and the reference strains were all below the threshold limit for species delineation (< 32.8%, < 88.0%, and < 86.7%, respectively). The major fatty acids (≥ 5.0%) were summed feature 8 (86.3%, C_18:1 ω6c and/or C_18:1 ω7c) and C_18:1 (5.0%) and the only isoprenoid quinone was Q-10. The polar lipids consisted of diphosphatidylglycerol, phosphatidylglycerol, two unidentified glycolipids, five unidentified phospholipids, and an unidentified aminolipid. Strain EF6^T displays notable resistance to benzoate and selenite, with higher tolerance levels (25 g/L for benzoate and 150 mM for selenite) compared to the closely related species. Genomic analysis identified six benzoate resistance genes (acdA, pcaF, fadA, pcaC, purB, and catA) and twenty selenite resistance and reduction-related genes (iscR, ssuB, ssuD, selA, selD and so on). Additionally, EF6^T possesses unique genes (catA, ssuB, and ssuC) absent in the closely related species for benzoate and selenite resistance. Its robust resistance to benzoate and selenite, coupled with its genomic makeup, make EF6^T a promising candidate for the remediation of both organic and inorganic pollutants. It is worth noting that the specific resistance phenotypes described above were not reported in other novel species in Paracoccus. Based on the results of biochemical, physiological, phylogenetic, and chemotaxonomic analyses, combined with comparisons of the 16S rRNA gene sequence and the whole genome sequence, strain EF6^T is considered to represent a novel species of the genus Paracoccus within the family Rhodobacteraceae, for which the name Paracoccus benzoatiresistens sp. nov. is proposed. The type strain is EF6^T (= GDMCC 1.3400 ^T = JCM 35642 ^T = MCCC 1K08702^T).