Planococcus stackebrandtii sp. nov., isolated from a cold desert of the Himalayas, India.

The taxonomic position of a bacterium isolated from a cold desert of the Himalayas, India, was analysed by using a polyphasic approach. The isolated strain, designated K22-03T, had phenotypic characteristics that matched those of the genus Planococcus and it represents a novel species. The almost-complete 16S rRNA gene sequence (1464 bases) of the novel strain was compared with those of previously studied Planococcus type strains and confirmed that the strain belongs to the genus Planococcus. 16S rRNA gene sequence analysis indicated that strain K22-03T differs from all other species of Planococcus by at least 2.5 %. DNA-DNA hybridization showed that it had low genomic relatedness with Planomicrobium mcmeekinii (MTCC 3704T, 23 %), Planococcus psychrophilus (MTCC 3812T, 61 %), Planococcus antarcticus (MTCC 3854T, 45 %) and Planomicrobium okeanokoites (MTCC 3703T, 51 %), the four species with which it was most closely related based on 16S rRNA gene sequence analysis (97-97.5 % similarity). Therefore, strain K22-03T should be recognized as a novel species, for which the name Planococcus stackebrandtii sp. nov. is proposed. The type strain is K22-03T (=MTCC 6226T=DSM 16419T=JCM 12481T).