Paenibacillus frigoriresistens sp. nov., a novel psychrotroph isolated from a peat bog in Heilongjiang, Northern China

A novel cold-resistant bacterium, designated YIM 016T, was isolated from a peat bog sample collected from Mohe County, Heilongjiang Province, Northern China and its taxonomic position was investigated using a polyphasic approach. The strain was Gram-positive, aerobic, endospore-forming, motile and rod-shaped. Phylogenetic analyses based on the 16S rRNA gene sequence clearly revealed that strain YIM 016T is a member of the genus Paenibacillus. The strain is closely related to Paenibacillus alginolyticus DSM 5050T, Paenibacillus chondroitinus DSM 5051T and Paenibacillus pocheonensis Gsoil 1138T with similarities of 99.0 %, 97.0 % and 96.3 %, respectively. Meanwhile, the low DNA–DNA relatedness levels between strain YIM 016T and its closely related phylogenetic neighbours demonstrated that this isolate represents a new genomic species in the genus Paenibacillus. Phenotypic and chemotaxonomic tests showed that growth of strain YIM 016T occurred at 4–37 °C, pH 6.0–8.0 and with a NaCl tolerance up to 0.5 % (w/v). The peptidoglycan contained meso-diaminopimelic acid, alanine and glutamic acid. The whole-cell hydrolysates mainly contained glucose, galactose and ribose. The predominant menaquinone was MK-7 and the major fatty acids were anteiso-C15:0 and iso-C16:0. The DNA G+C content of strain YIM 016T was 51.7 mol %. On the basis of phylogenetic, phenotypic and chemotaxonomic characteristics, strain YIM 016T could be clearly distinguished from other species of the genus Paenibacillus. It is therefore concluded that strain YIM 016T represents a novel species in the genus Paenibacillus, for which the name Paenibacillus frigoriresistens sp. nov. is proposed. The type strain is YIM 016T (= CCTCC AB 2011150T = JCM 18141T).