Comamonas guangdongensis sp. nov., isolated from subterranean forest sediment, and emended description of the genus Comamonas.

A facultatively anaerobic bacterium, strain CY01(T), isolated from subterranean forest sediment collected from Guangdong Province, China, was investigated using a polyphasic taxonomic approach. The cells were short rods, Gram-negative, non-sporulating and motile. Phylogenetic analysis based on 16S rRNA gene sequences showed that strain CY01(T) showed highest sequence similarities to Comamonas thiooxydans S23(T) (98.0 %), Comamonas testosteroni JCM 5832(T) (97.9 %), Comamonas koreensis KCTC 12005(T) (97.7 %) and Comamonas odontotermitis LMG 23579(T) (97.0 %). The major respiratory quinone was ubiquinone-8. The major cellular fatty acids were summed feature 3 (C16 : 1ω6c and/or C16 : 1ω7c), C16 : 0 and summed feature 8 (C18 : 1ω6c and/or C18 : 1ω7c). Based on the phylogenetic analysis, DNA-DNA hybridization, whole-cell fatty acid composition as well as biochemical characteristics, strain CY01(T) was clearly distinguishable from all recognized species of the genus Comamonas and should be classified as a representative of a novel species of the genus, for which the name Comamonas guangdongensis sp. nov. is proposed. The type strain is CY01(T) ( = CCTCC AB 2011133(T) = KACC 16241(T)).