title: Saccharedens versatilis gen. nov., sp. nov., a sugar-degrading member of the Burkholderiales isolated from Cephalotes rohweri ant guts.
abstract: Cephalotes 'turtle' ants host a core group of gut-associated symbionts, but their potential contributions to ant nutrition and disease resistance remain uncharacterized in vitro. To gain a better understanding of the metabolic capability of core symbionts belonging to the Burkholderiales, we cultivated and characterized strain CAG32T from the guts of Cephalotes rohweri ants. Strain CAG32T was rod-shaped, Gram-stain-negative, motile and formed pale-white colonies on trypticase soy agar. Optimum growth occurred under an atmosphere of 20 % O2 supplemented with 1 % CO2. Strain CAG32T grew under NaCl concentrations of 0-2.0 %, temperatures of 23-47 °C and pH values of 4.0-8.0, and was capable of producing n-butyric acid and degrading carbohydrates for growth. The G+C content of the genomic DNA was 59.2±0.6 mol% and the major fatty acids were C16 : 0, C16 : 1ω7c/C16 : 1ω6c, C17 : 0 cylcopropane, C12 : 0 and C14 : 0 3-OH/C16 : 1 iso I. The only respiratory quinone detected was ubiquinone-8 (Q-8) and the major polar lipids were phosphatidylethanolamine, phosphatidylglycerol and diphosphatidylglycerol. Based on phylogenetic analysis of the 16S rRNA gene sequence, strain CAG32T shared 96.9 % nucleotide similarity with its closest cultivated neighbours Bordetella petrii Se-1111RT and Bordetella bronchiseptica ATCC 19395T. This, combined with differences in the phenotypic and biochemical profile from neighbouring strains, warrants the classification of strain CAG32T as representing a novel species of a new genus within the Burkholderiales family Alcaligenaceae. The name Saccharedens versatilis gen. nov., sp. nov. is proposed. The type strain of Saccharedens versatilis is CAG32T (=NCIMB 15010T=DSM 100909T).
authors.affiliation: Department of Biology, Calvin College, Grand Rapids, MI, USA.
authors.forename: Jonathan Y
authors.initials: JY
authors.lastname: Lin
authors.affiliation: Department of Biology, Calvin College, Grand Rapids, MI, USA.
authors.forename: William J
authors.initials: WJ
authors.lastname: Hobson
authors.affiliation: Department of Biology, Calvin College, Grand Rapids, MI, USA.
authors.forename: John T
authors.initials: JT
authors.lastname: Wertz
mesh_terms: D042401:Alcaligenaceae / Q000145:classification* / Q000235:genetics / Q000302:isolation & purification; D000818:Animals; D001000:Ants / Q000382:microbiology*; D001130:Arizona; D015373:Bacterial Typing Techniques; D001482:Base Composition; D004269:DNA, Bacterial / Q000235:genetics; D005227:Fatty Acids / Q000737:chemistry; D010743:Phospholipids / Q000737:chemistry; D010802:Phylogeny; D012336:RNA, Ribosomal, 16S / Q000235:genetics; D017422:Sequence Analysis, DNA; D013559:Symbiosis; D014451:Ubiquinone / Q000737:chemistry
chemical_list: D004269:DNA, Bacterial; D005227:Fatty Acids; D010743:Phospholipids; D012336:RNA, Ribosomal, 16S; D014451:Ubiquinone; C030778:ubiquinone 8