Psychrobium conchae gen. nov., sp. nov., a psychrophilic marine bacterium isolated from the Iheya North hydrothermal field

Bacterial and Fungal Co-Occurrence in the Nudibranch, Pteraeolidia semperi

Despite the increasing recognition and importance surrounding bacterial and fungal interactions, and their critical contributions to ecosystem functioning and host fitness, studies examining their co-occurrence remain in their infancy. Similarly, studies have yet to characterise the bacterial and fungal communities associated with nudibranchs or their core microbial members. Doing this can advance our understanding of how the microbiome helps a host adapt and persist in its environment. In this study, we characterised the bacterial and fungal communities associated with 46 Pteraeolidia semperi nudibranch individuals collected from four offshore islands in Singapore. We found no distinct spatial structuring of microbial community, richness, or diversity across sampling locations. The bacterial genera Mycoplasma and Endozoicomonas were found across all samples and islands. The fungal genus Leucoagaricus was found with the highest occurrence, but was not found everywhere, and this is the first record of its reported presence in marine environments. The co-occurrence network suggests that bacterial and fungal interactions are limited, but we identified the bacterial family Colwelliaceae as a potential keystone taxon with its disproportionately high number of edges. Furthermore, Colwelliaceae clusters together with other bacterial families such as Pseudoalteromonadaceae and Alteromonadaceae, all of which have possible roles in the digestion of food.

Shewanella azerbaijanica sp. nov. a novel aquatic species with high bioremediation abilities

A novel Gram-negative, facultative anaerobic, rod-shaped, and non-motile bacterium with bio-degradation potential of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) and uranium bio-reduction, designated as RCRI7^T, was isolated from Qurugöl Lake water near Tabriz city. Strain RCRI7^T can grow in the absence of NaCl and tolerates up to 3% NaCl (optimum, 0-0.5%), at the temperature range of 4-45 °C (optimum, 30 °C) and a pH range of 6-9 (optimum, pH 7 ± 0.5). Results of phylogenetic analysis based on 16S rRNA gene sequence indicated that strain RCRI7^T is affiliated with the genus Shewanella, most closely related to Shewanella xiamenensis S4^T (99.1%) and Shewanella putrefaciens JCM 20190^T (98.9%). The genomic DNA G+C content of strain RCRI7^T is 41 mol%. The major fatty acids are C_16:1ω9c, C_18:1ω9c and iso-C_17:1ω5c. The OrthoANI and ANIb values between RCRI7^T and Shewanella xiamenensis S4^T were 87.4% and 87.7%, and between RCRI7^T and Shewanella putrefaciens JCM 20190^T were 79.5% and 79.7%, respectively. Strain RCRI7^T displayed dDDH values of 30.2% and 39.8% to Shewanella xiamenensis S4^T and Shewanella putrefaciens JCM 20190^T, respectively. The major polar lipids include phosphatidylglycerol (PG) and phosphatidylethanolamine (PE). The respiratory quinone is Q8. Based on the polyphasic evidence presented in this paper, strain RCRI7^T is considered to represent a novel species, with bioremediation potential, in the genus Shewanella, for which the name Shewanella azerbaijanica sp. nov. is proposed. The type strain is RCRI7^T (= JCM 17276^T) (= KCTC 62476^T).

Whole genome-based taxonomy of Shewanella and Parashewanella

The family Shewanellaceae currently comprises three genera, Shewanella , Parashewanella and Psychrobium , the latter represented by a single species. From the second half of the 1990s, the number of novel species in the Shewanellaceae has steadily increased, suggesting that the true diversity of this family has only begun to emerge. In recent years, efforts to provide a genus-wide, whole genome-based taxonomy for Shewanella have been limited by the lack of numerous type strain genome sequences. To shed light on this question, we sequenced all Shewanella type strains that lacked a publicly available whole-genome sequence. Using state-of-the-art phylogenomic methods, here we provide a genus-wide taxonomy of Shewanella and Parashewanella that resulted in the identification of 48 novel species represented by 73 sequenced isolates, and we propose the correction of 43 misidentified non-type-strain isolates. Our work sets a reference for family-wide comparative genomic studies addressing genetic or ecophysiological aspects of Shewanellaceae , as well as subsequent species descriptions.

Parashewanella tropica sp. nov., a mesophilic bacterium isolated from a marine sponge from Chuuk lagoon, Federated States of Micronesia, and emended description of the genus Parashewanella

A mesophilic, straight-rod-shaped, non-flagellated bacterium, designated MEBiC05444^T, was isolated from a marine sponge collected from Chuuk lagoon, Federated States of Micronesia. The strain was Gram-negative, catalase- and oxidase-positive, and facultative anaerobic. The isolate aerobically grew at 8-38 °C (optimum, 24-32 °C), pH 4.0-10.0 (pH 7.0-7.5) with an absolute requirement for Na⁺ up to 6 % (w/v) NaCl (2 %). Phylogenetic analyses based on 16S rRNA gene sequences revealed that MEBiC05444^T belonged to the family Shewanellaceae, within the class Gammaproteobacteria. Strain MEBiC05444^T showed highest 16S rRNA gene sequence similarity to Parashewanella curva C51^T, followed by [Shewanella] irciniae UST040317-058^T and Parashewanella spongiae HJ039^T (98.9 %, 97.2 and 95.7 %, respectively). In the phylogenetic tree based on the 16S rRNA gene sequences, MEBiC05444^T formed a cluster with P. curva C51^T, but the average nucleotide identity value between the two strains was 82 %, thus confirming their separation at species level. The major fatty acids were iso-C_15 : 0 (19.7 %), summed feature 3 (composed of C_16 : 1 ω7c and/or C_16 : 1ω6c; 16.1 %) and C_17 : 1ω8c (10.2 %). The only detected respiratory quinone was ubiquinone Q-8. The major polar lipids were phosphatidylethanolamine, phosphatidylglycerol, diphosphatidylglycerol, three unidentified aminoglycolipids, two unidentified glycolipids, an unidentified aminoglycophospholipid and an unidentified lipid. The genomic DNA G+C content of strain MEBiC05444^T was 40.8 mol%. Based on the results of polyphasic analysis, the strain represents a novel species of the genus Parashewanella, distinct from P. curva C51^T, [Shewanella]irciniae UST040317-058^T and P. spongiae HJ039^T for which the name Parashewanellatropica sp. nov. is proposed with type strain MEBiC05444^T (=KCCM 43304^T=JCM 16653^T).