Description of seven candidate species affiliated with the phylum Actinobacteria, representing planktonic freshwater bacteria.

Actinobacteria comprise a substantial fraction of the bacterioplankton in freshwater lakes and streams. Numerous cultivation-independent investigations have retrieved actinobacterial 16S rRNA gene sequences from such habitats. The taxa detected in freshwater habitats are usually absent from terrestrial and marine systems. So far, none of the indigenous freshwater lineages is represented by a taxon with a validly published name. The seven organisms for which Candidatus status is described here were isolated from freshwater lakes and ponds located in tropical, subtropical and temperate climatic zones. Phylogenetic analyses demonstrated that they are affiliated with one of the actinobacterial lineages indigenous to freshwater bacterioplankton. The seven novel taxa could only be cultivated to date as mixed cultures that also contain non-actinobacterial strains. Due to the lack of pure cultures, I propose to establish the candidate species 'Candidatus Planktoluna difficilis', 'Candidatus Aquiluna rubra', 'Candidatus Flaviluna lacus', 'Candidatus Rhodoluna limnophila', 'Candidatus Rhodoluna planktonica', 'Candidatus Rhodoluna lacicola' and 'Candidatus Limnoluna rubra' for these taxa.