Chachezhania antarctica gen. nov., sp. nov., a novel member of the family ‘Rhodobacteraceae’ isolated from Antarctic seawater

A Gram-stain-negative, aerobic, non-flagellated, rod-shaped bacterium, designated strain SM1703T, was isolated from Antarctic seawater collected near the Chinese Antarctic Great Wall Station, King George Island, West Antarctica. Phylogenetic analysis based on 16S rRNA gene sequences revealed that strain SM1703T formed a distinct phylogenetic lineage within the family ‘Rhodobacteraceae’, sharing high 16S rRNA gene sequence similarity with Marivita litorea (95.5%). The strain grew at 10–37 °C (optimum, 25 °C) and with 0.5–13% (w/v) NaCl (optimum, 3–5%). The major cellular fatty acids were C19:0 cyclo ω8c, C18:1ω7c, C18:1 2-OH and C16:0 2-OH. The major polar lipids were phosphatidylglycerol, phosphatidylcholine, an unidentified aminolipid and an unidentified lipid. The genomic DNA G+C content of strain SM1703T was 64.6 mol%. Based on the results of the polyphasic characterization for strain SM1703T, it is classified as the representative of a novel species in a new genus of the family ‘Rhodobacteraceae’, for which the name Chachezhania antarctica gen. nov., sp. nov. is proposed. The type strain of Chachezhania antarctica is SM1703T (= MCCC 1K03470T = KCTC 62794T = CCTCC AB 2018351T).