Mycobacterium frederiksbergense sp. nov., a novel polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon-degrading Mycobacterium species.

A polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon-degrading bacterium isolated from coal tar-contaminated soil in Denmark was characterized by a polyphasic approach. Phylogenetically and chemotaxonomically, it was related to members of the genus Mycobacterium. The isolate contains chemotaxonomic markers that are diagnostic for the genus Mycobacterium; i.e. the meso isomer of 2,6-diaminopimelic acid, arabinose and galactose as diagnostic whole-cell sugars, MK-9(H2) as the principal isoprenoid quinone, a mycolic acid pattern of alpha-mycolates, ketomycolates and wax-ester mycolates, unbranched saturated and unsaturated fatty acids plus a small amount of tuberculostearic acid and a significant amount of a C18:0 secondary alcohol. Based on the unique combination of chemical markers among mycobacteria, it is proposed that the isolate should be assigned to a new species, Mycobacterium frederiksbergense sp. nov. This novel species is phylogenetically closely related to Mycobacterium diernhoferi, Mycobacterium neoaurum and Mycobacterium hodleri. The type strain of M. frederiksbergense is strain FAn9T (= DSM 44346T = NRRL B-24126T).