Pontibacter ummariensis sp. nov., isolated from a hexachlorocyclohexane-contaminated soil

A Gram-stain-negative, pinkish-red, rod-shaped bacterium designated strain NKM1 T was isolated from soil samples contaminated with hexachlorocyclohexane isomers, collected from Ummari village, Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh, India. The strain was characterized by a polyphasic taxonomic approach. 16S rRNA gene sequence analysis showed that strain NKM1 T clustered exclusively with members of the genus Pontibacter of the family Cytophagaceae , phylum Bacteroidetes. The 16S rRNA gene sequence similarity to type strains of the genus Pontibacter ranged from 96.7 to 93.8 %, with the highest sequence similarity found with Pontibacter odishensis JC130 T (96.7 %). Cells of strain NKM1 T were aerobic, non-flagellated and non-motile. Strain NKM1 T was catalase- and oxidase-positive but negative for nitrate reduction and hydrolysis of gelatin. The major fatty acids in strain NKM1 T were anteiso-C 15 : 0 , iso-C 15 : 0 , C 16 : 0 , C 18 : 1 ω9 c and summed feature 3 (C 16 : 1 ω7 c and/or C 16 : 1 ω6 c ). The polar lipid profile of strain NKM1 T showed the presence of phosphatidylethanolamine and unknown glycolipids as well as aminolipids. sym- Homospermidine was found to be the major polyamine and menaquinone 7 (MK-7) was the major respiratory quinone. The DNA G+C content of strain NKM1 T was determined to be 58.6 mol%. Based on phenotypic, chemotaxonomic, physiological and biochemical evidence, it is proposed that isolate NKM1 T represents a novel species that belongs to the genus Pontibacter , for which the name Pontibacter ummariensis sp. nov. is proposed. The type strain is NKM1 T ( = DSM 100161 T  = KCTC 42944 T  = MCC 2777 T ).