title: Genome-scale data suggest reclassifications in the Leisingera-Phaeobacter cluster including proposals for Sedimentitalea gen. nov. and Pseudophaeobacter gen. nov.
abstract: Earlier phylogenetic analyses of the marine Rhodobacteraceae (class Alphaproteobacteria) genera Leisingera and Phaeobacter indicated that neither genus might be monophyletic. We here used phylogenetic reconstruction from genome-scale data, MALDI-TOF mass-spectrometry analysis and a re-assessment of the phenotypic data from the literature to settle this matter, aiming at a reclassification of the two genera. Neither Phaeobacter nor Leisingera formed a clade in any of the phylogenetic analyses conducted. Rather, smaller monophyletic assemblages emerged, which were phenotypically more homogeneous, too. We thus propose the reclassification of Leisingera nanhaiensis as the type species of a new genus as Sedimentitalea nanhaiensis gen. nov., comb. nov., the reclassification of Phaeobacter arcticus and Phaeobacter leonis as Pseudophaeobacter arcticus gen. nov., comb. nov. and Pseudophaeobacter leonis comb. nov., and the reclassification of Phaeobacter aquaemixtae, Phaeobacter caeruleus, and Phaeobacter daeponensis as Leisingera aquaemixtae comb. nov., Leisingera caerulea comb. nov., and Leisingera daeponensis comb. nov. The genera Phaeobacter and Leisingera are accordingly emended.
authors.affiliation: Department of Biology of Geological Processes - Aquatic Microbial Ecology, Institute for Chemistry and Biology of the Marine Environment (ICBM), University of Oldenburg Oldenburg, Germany.
authors.forename: Sven
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Breider
authors.affiliation: Department of Microorganisms, Leibniz Institute DSMZ - German Collection of Microorganisms and Cell Cultures Braunschweig, Germany.
authors.forename: Carmen
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Scheuner
authors.affiliation: Department of Microorganisms, Leibniz Institute DSMZ - German Collection of Microorganisms and Cell Cultures Braunschweig, Germany.
authors.forename: Peter
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Schumann
authors.affiliation: Department of Microorganisms, Leibniz Institute DSMZ - German Collection of Microorganisms and Cell Cultures Braunschweig, Germany.
authors.forename: Anne
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Fiebig
authors.affiliation: Department of Microorganisms, Leibniz Institute DSMZ - German Collection of Microorganisms and Cell Cultures Braunschweig, Germany.
authors.forename: Jörn
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Petersen
authors.affiliation: Department of Microorganisms, Leibniz Institute DSMZ - German Collection of Microorganisms and Cell Cultures Braunschweig, Germany.
authors.forename: Silke
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Pradella
authors.affiliation: Department of Microorganisms, Leibniz Institute DSMZ - German Collection of Microorganisms and Cell Cultures Braunschweig, Germany.
authors.forename: Hans-Peter
authors.initials: HP
authors.lastname: Klenk
authors.affiliation: Department of Biology of Geological Processes - Aquatic Microbial Ecology, Institute for Chemistry and Biology of the Marine Environment (ICBM), University of Oldenburg Oldenburg, Germany.
authors.forename: Thorsten
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Brinkhoff
authors.affiliation: Department of Microorganisms, Leibniz Institute DSMZ - German Collection of Microorganisms and Cell Cultures Braunschweig, Germany.
authors.forename: Markus
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Göker
keywords: Roseobacter group; gene content; genus boundaries; marine microbiology; phylogenomics; supermatrix