Celeribacter persicus sp. nov., a polycyclic-aromatic-hydrocarbon-degrading bacterium isolated from mangrove soil.

A Gram-stain-negative, mesophilic bacterial strain, designated SBU1T, which degrades polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons was isolated from the sediments of the mangrove forests of Nayband Bay in the Iranian Persian Gulf during a bioremediation experiment. The 16S rRNA gene sequence of strain SBU1T exhibited highest similarities with Celeribacter indicus P73T (98.52%) and Celeribacter neptunius H 14T (97.05%). Phylogenetic analysis, based on 16S rRNA gene sequences, demonstrated that strain SBU1T fell within a cluster consisting of the type strains of species of the genus Celeribacter and formed a stable clade with C. indicus P73T in trees generated with three algorithms. The fatty acid profile of strain SBU1T consisted of the major fatty acids C18:1ω7c/ω6c and C18:1ω7c 11-methyl. The major compounds in the polar lipid profile were one phosphatidylglycerol and four unidentified phospholipids. The quinone system exclusively comprised ubiquinone (Q-10). The DNA G+C content was 60.4 mol%. A combination of phylogenetic analysis, DNA-DNA hybridization estimation, average nucleotide identity results and differential phenotypic and chemotaxonomic characteristics demonstrated that strain SBU1T could be distinguished from its close relatives. Therefore, strain SBU1T is considered to represent a novel species of the genus Celeribacter for which the name Celeribacter persicus sp. nov. is proposed. The type strain is SBU1T (=MCCC 1A00672T=DSM 100434T).

Phylogenetic diversity and biological activity of culturable Actinobacteria isolated from freshwater fish gut microbiota.

The diversity of Actinobacteria isolated from the gut microbiota of two freshwater fish species namely Schizothorax zarudnyi and Schizocypris altidorsalis was investigated employing classical cultivation techniques, repetitive sequence-based PCR (rep-PCR), partial and full 16S rDNA sequencing followed by phylogenetic analysis. A total of 277 isolates were cultured by applying three different agar media. Based on rep-PCR profile analysis a subset of 33 strains was selected for further phylogenetic investigations, antimicrobial activity testing and diversity analysis of secondary-metabolite biosynthetic genes. The identification based on 16S rRNA gene sequencing revealed that the isolates belong to eight genera distributed among six families. At the family level, 72% of the 277 isolates belong to the family Streptomycetaceae. Among the non-streptomycetes group, the most dominant group could be allocated to the family of Pseudonocardiaceae followed by the members of Micromonosporaceae. Phylogenetic analysis clearly showed that many of the isolates in the genera Streptomyces, Saccharomonospora, Micromonospora, Nocardiopsis, Arthrobacter, Kocuria, Microbacterium and Agromyces formed a single and distinct cluster with the type strains. Notably, there is no report so far about the occurrence of these Actinobacteria in the microbiota of freshwater fish. Of the 33 isolates, all the strains exhibited antibacterial activity against a set of tested human and fish pathogenic bacteria. Then, to study their associated potential capacity to synthesize diverse bioactive natural products, diversity of genes associated with secondary-metabolite biosynthesis including PKS I, PKS II, NRPS, the enzyme PhzE of the phenazine pathways, the enzyme dTGD of 6-deoxyhexoses glycosylation pathway, the enzyme Halo of halogenation pathway and the enzyme CYP in polyene polyketide biosynthesis were investigated among the isolates. All the strains possess at least two types of the investigated biosynthetic genes, one-fourth of them harbours more than four. This study demonstrates the significant diversity of Actinobacteria in the fish gut microbiota and it's potential to produce biologically active compounds.