Psychrobacillus vulpis sp. nov., a new species isolated from faeces of a red fox in Spain

A facultative anaerobic, chemoheterotrophic, endospore-forming, Gram-stain-positive rod, designated as strain Z8 T , was isolated from red fox ( Vulpes vulpes ) faeces sampled at Tablas de Daimiel National Park, Ciudad Real, Spain. Strain Z8 T grew at 0–37 °C (optimum, 28 °C), in the presence of 0–5.5 % (w/v) NaCl (2.5 %, w/v) and at pH 6–10 (pH 7). The strain was motile and positive for catalase, oxidase, H 2 S and siderophore production, acid and alkaline phosphatases, and N -acetylglucosamine, adipic acid and malate assimilation. It hydrolysed starch, DNA, l -tyrosine, Tween 20, Tween 80 and lecithovitellin. Phylogenetic analysis of the 16S rRNA gene sequence indicated that strain Z8 T is a member of the genus Psychrobacillus , showing high sequence similarity to Psychrobacillus lasiicapitis NEAU-3TGS17 T (99.2 %) and Psychrobacillus soli NHI-2T T (99.1 %), and around 98 % to other known species of the genus Psychrobacillus . Digital DNA–DNA hybridization and average nucleotide identity values were lower than 24 and 79 %, respectively, with the most related species. In silico G+C content was 35.9 mol%. The major cellular fatty acids of strain Z8 T were iso-C 14 : 0 , iso-C 15 : 0 and anteiso-C 15 : 0 . The novel strain contained diphosphatidylglycerol, phosphatidylethanolamine and phosphatidylglycerol as predominant polar lipids, and the main respiratory isoprenoid quinone was MK-8. Based on the 16S rRNA phylogenetic analysis, together with MLSA ( recA, rpoB and gyrB ), phylogenomic, chemotaxonomic and phenotypic results, we demonstrate that strain Z8 T represents a novel species of the genus Psychrobacillus, for which the name Psychrobacillus vulpis sp. nov., is proposed. The type strain is Z8 T (=CECT 9721 T =LMG 31001 T ).