Gulbenkiania indica sp. nov., isolated from a sulfur spring.

A novel bacterium, designated strain HT27(T), was isolated from a sulfur spring sample collected from Athamallik, Orissa, India, and was characterized by using a polyphasic approach. Cells were Gram-negative, strictly aerobic, rod-shaped and motile by means of a single polar flagellum. Strain HT27(T) was oxidase- and catalase-positive. Growth was observed at pH 5.0-11.0 and at 15-45 degrees C; the highest growth yield was observed at pH 7.5-8.0 and 30-37 degrees C. The G+C content of the genomic DNA of strain HT27(T) was 63 mol%. The major cellular fatty acids were C(16 : 1)omega7c (44.24 %), C(16 : 0) (27.65 %), C(18 : 1)omega7c (13.98 %), C(12 : 0) (2.60 %) and C(12 : 0) 3-OH (2.22 %). 16S rRNA gene sequence analysis indicated that strain HT27(T) clustered with the genus Gulbenkiania and showed 99.0 % similarity to Gulbenkiania mobilis E4FC31(T). However, the level of DNA-DNA relatedness between strain HT27(T) and G. mobilis E4FC31(T) was 30 %. On the basis of phenotypic and chemotaxonomic characteristics, 16S rRNA gene sequence analysis and DNA-DNA hybridization data, strain HT27(T) is considered to represent a novel species of the genus Gulbenkiania, for which the name Gulbenkiania indica sp. nov. is proposed. The type strain is HT27(T) (=DSM 17901(T) =JCM 15969(T)).