Carsten Sjøholm

Description of Cellulophaga baltica gen. nov., sp. nov. and Cellulophaga fucicola gen. nov., sp. nov. and reclassification of [Cytophaga] lytica to Cellulophaga lytica gen. nov., comb. nov.

Phenotypic data indicate that gliding, yellow/orange-pigmented, agar-digesting bacterial strains were members of the Cytophaga-Flavobacterium-Bacteroides (CFB) group. The strains were isolated from the surface of the marine benthic macroalga Fucus serratus L. and the surrounding seawater at three localities in Danish waters. The bacteria were Gram-negative, flexirubin-negative, aerobic, catalase-positive and oxidase-negative and were psychrophilic and halophilic. All strains utilized D-fructose, L-fucose and alpha-ketobutyric acid and degraded alginic acid, carrageenan, starch and autoclaved yeast cells. Amplification with primers specific for repetitive extragenic palindromic elements by PCR divided the strains of this study into two groups. Both groups showed unique PCR amplification patterns compared to reference strains of the CFB group. Phylogenetic analysis of 16S rDNA sequences showed association of these organisms and [Cytophaga] lytica at the genus level. Hybridization of total chromosomal DNA revealed that the new strains and [Cytophaga] lytica ATCC 23178T were clearly distinct from each other and other previously described species of the CFB group. A new genus is described, Cellulophaga gen. nov. comprising two new species, Cellulophaga baltica gen. nov., sp. nov. (NN015840T = LMG 18535T) and Cellulophaga fucicola gen. nov., sp. nov. (NN015860T = LMG 18536T), as well as the emendation of [Cytophaga] lytica to Cellulophaga lytica gen. nov., comb. nov.

Anoxybacillus bogrovensis sp. nov., a novel thermophilic bacterium isolated from a hot spring in Dolni Bogrov, Bulgaria.

A novel moderately thermophilic bacterium, designated strain BT 13(T), was isolated from a geothermal water source in Dolni Bogrov, near Sofia, Bulgaria. The isolate was spore-forming, Gram-positive, facultatively anaerobic, alkalitolerant and heterotrophic, and was able to ferment a wide variety of carbon sources including d-glucose, sucrose, l-arabinose, l-rhamnose, starch, sorbitol and glycogen. Strain BT 13(T) grew optimally at pH 8.0 and 65 degrees C. Intracellular amylolytic activity was registered with glucose as the main product of starch hydrolysis. Phylogenetic analysis based on the 16S rRNA gene revealed that the strain belonged to the genus Anoxybacillus, the closest relatives being Anoxybacillus flavithermus and Anoxybacillus kamchatkensis. The DNA G+C content was 44.1 mol%. The fatty acid profile with a content of iso-branched fatty acids of around 80 % of the total fatty acids is similar to that of recognized Anoxybacillus species. On the basis of genotypic differentiation and significant differences in phenotypic characteristics, it was concluded that strain BT 13(T) represents a novel species of the genus Anoxybacillus, for which the name Anoxybacillus bogrovensis sp. nov. is proposed. The type strain is BT 13(T) (=DSM 17956(T)=NBIMCC 8427(T)).