Planococcus faecalis sp. nov., a carotenoid-producing species isolated from stools of Antarctic penguins

Taxonomic studies were performed on a novel carotenoid-producing strain, designated AJ003T, isolated from faeces of Antarctic penguins. Cells of strain AJ003T were aerobic, Gram-stain-positive, cocci-shaped and orange. Strain AJ003T was capable of growing in a broad temperature range, including sub-zero growth (below − 20 to 30 °C). 16S rRNA gene sequence analysis revealed that strain AJ003T was closely related to Planococcus halocryophilus Or1T (97.4 % similarity), Planococcus antarcticus DSM 14505T (97.3 %), Planococcus kocurii NCIMB 629T (97.3 %), and Planococcus donghaensis JH1T (97.1 %). The predominant cellular fatty acids were anteiso-C15 : 0, and iso-C16 : 0.MK-7 and MK-8 were the quinones identified, and the major pigment was glycosyl-4,4′-diaponeurosporen-4′-ol-4-oic acid. The major polar lipid was phosphatidylglycerol. DNA–DNA relatedness of strain AJ003T with respect to its closest phylogenetic neighbours was 38.2 ± 0.5 % for Planococcus halocryophilus DSM 24743T, 32.2 ± 0.2 % for Planococcus antarcticus DSM 14505T, 21.0 ± 0.3 % for Planococcus kocurii DSM 20747T and 18.6 ± 1.4 % for Planococcus donghaensis KCTC 13050T. The DNA G+C content of strain AJ003T was 40.0 ± 0.6 mol%. Based on the phenotypic, chemotaxonomic and phylogenetic data, strain AJ003T is concluded to represent a novel species of the genus Planococcus, for which the name Planococcus faecalis sp. nov. is proposed. The type strain is AJ003T ( = KCTC 33580T = CECT 8759T).