Putative ammonia-oxidizing bacteria and archaea in an acidic red soil with different land utilization patterns.

Ammonia-oxidizers play a key role in nitrification, which is important for nitrogen cycling and soil function. However, little is known about how vegetation successions and agricultural practices caused by human activities impact the ammonia-oxidizers and nitrification process. Putative ammonia-oxidizing bacteria (AOB) and archaea (AOA) communities under different land utilization patterns of restoration (forest), degradation (pasture), cropland and pine plantation were analysed in an acidic red soil based on bacterial and archaeal amoA genes together with archaeal 16S rRNA gene. Real-time PCR, terminal restriction fragment length polymorphism (T-RFLP) and sequencing of clone libraries were conducted to study their abundance and community structure. Land utilization pattern showed significant effects on the copy numbers of all these genes, but only the bacterial amoA gene correlated significantly with potential nitrification rates (PNR). The cropland plot possessed the highest bacterial amoA gene copies and PNR, while the degradation plot was opposite to that. There were no significant variations in the bacterial amoA gene structure, which was dominated by Clusters 10 and 11 in Nitrosospira. However, archaeal amoA gene structure varied among different land utilization patterns especially for the cropland. The degradation plot was dominated by Crenarchaea 1.1c-related groups from which the amoA gene could not been amplified in this study, while other plots were dominated by Crenarchaea 1.1a/b group based on archaeal 16S rRNA gene analysis. These results indicated significant effects of land utilization patterns on putative ammonia oxidizers, which were especially obvious in the degradation and cropland plots where frequent human disturbance occurred.

[Biosynthesis of polyhydroxyalkanoates and its metabolic pathway in Comamonas sp. strain CNB-1].

Comamonas sp. strain CNB-1 degrades chloronitrbenzene and nitrobenzene for carbon and nitrogen sources. In this study, accumulation of polyhydroxyalkanoic acids (PHAs) within strain CNB-1 cells was investigated under various conditions. Results indicated that strain CNB-1 was able to synthesize PHA from various short-chain fatty acid and alcohols, and 57 w% of the dry cell weight (DCW) PHA was obtained when valerate and 1,4-butanediol were co-fed. Supplements of short-chain alcohols stimulated the accumulation of PHAs, and this stimulatory effect was attributed to the more amount of reductant generated from alcohol dehydrogenation. The genes encoding for PHA polymerase (phaC), for acetoacetyl-CoA thiolase (phaA), and acetoacetyl-CoA reductase (phaB) were cloned in Escherichia coli, and the recombinant E. coli synthesized PHA and showed enzymatic activities of PHA polymerase, acetoacetyl-CoA thiolase, and acetoacetyl-CoA reductase. The three genes occurred as a cluster of pha(C-A-B). To optimize their expression, the three genes were cloned to the pET vector and expressed respectively. Mass of expressed protein was detected and the enzyme activities increased greatly in contrast to wild CNB-1 strain, which is about 4.1, 71, and 2882 folds of activities of CNB-1.

Wenxinia marina gen. nov., sp. nov., a novel member of the Roseobacter clade isolated from oilfield sediments of the South China Sea.

An aerobic and heterotrophic, Gram-negative bacterial isolate, strain HY34(T), was isolated from sediment of an oilfield in the South China Sea, China. The taxonomy of strain HY34(T) was studied by phenotypic and phylogenetic methods. Strain HY34(T) formed faint-pink colonies on marine agar 2216. Cells of strain HY34(T) were non-motile, ovoid or short rods. Strain HY34(T) was positive for catalase and oxidase, and nitrate was reduced to nitrite. The nearly complete 16S rRNA gene sequence of strain HY34(T) was obtained and sequence analysis showed that it, together with the genus Rubellimicrobium, formed a distinct clade close to some members of the Roseobacter clade in the family Rhodobacteraceae, and it showed highest sequence similarities to Oceanicola granulosus HTCC2516(T) (93.8 %), Silicibacter lacuscaerulensis ITI-1157(T) (93.3 %), Dinoroseobacter shibae DFL 12(T) (93.3 %) and Rubellimicrobium thermophilum C-lvk-R2A-2(T) (92.2 %). Bacteriochlorophyll a was not detected. The ubiquinone system was Q-10. The major polar lipids were phosphatidylglycerol, phosphatidylcholine and an unidentified glycolipid. The major fatty acids (>10 %) were C(18 : 1) omega 7c and C(16 : 0). The DNA G+C content of this strain was 69.4 mol%. A polyphasic analysis supported the conclusion that this strain represents a novel genus and species, which we designated Wenxinia marina gen. nov., sp. nov. The type strain of Wenxinia marina is HY34(T) (=CGMCC 1.6105(T) =JCM 14017(T)).

Salegentibacter catena sp. nov., isolated from sediment of the South China Sea, and emended description of the genus Salegentibacter.

A novel marine bacterial strain, HY1T, was isolated from sediment of the South China Sea. The strain was aerobic and heterotrophic and formed saffron yellow-pigmented colonies on marine agar 2216. Cells were non-motile, Gram-negative rods, frequently occurring in chains. BLASTN searches revealed that the 16S rRNA gene sequence of strain HY1T showed high similarity with those of members of the genera Gillisia (91.7-93.8 %) and Salegentibacter (92.6-93.5 %). Phylogenetic analysis based on 16S rRNA gene sequences showed that the strain clustered with members of both Salegentibacter and Gillisia and phylogenetic trees constructed using three different methods (neighbour-joining, maximum-parsimony and minimum-evolution) indicated that strain HY1T clustered more frequently with members of the genus Salegentibacter. The DNA G+C content of strain HY1T was 44.4 mol% and its major cellular fatty acids (>or=5 % of the total fatty acids) were iso-15 : 1 (5.0 %), iso-15 : 0 (6.8 %), anteiso-15 : 0 (6.4 %), 15 : 0 (10.4 %), iso-16 : 0 (13.5 %), summed feature 3 (comprising iso-15 : 0 2-OH and/or 16 : 1omega7c; 6.3 %), iso-17 : 0 3-OH (5.2 %) and 17 : 0 2-OH (5.0 %). Cells contained menaquinone 6. Based on the phylogenetic and phenotypic analyses, strain HY1T should be classified as representing a novel species within the genus Salegentibacter, for which the name Salegentibacter catena sp. nov. is proposed. The type strain is HY1T (=CGMCC 1.6101T=JCM 14015T). Based on this study and on previously described Salegentibacter species, an emended description of the genus Salegentibacter is given.

Cyclobacterium lianum sp. nov., a marine bacterium isolated from sediment of an oilfield in the South China Sea, and emended description of the genus Cyclobacterium.

The marine bacterial strain HY9(T) was isolated from sediment from the South China Sea. Strain HY9(T) is aerobic, heterotrophic and rose-pigmented. The cells are non-motile and curved, i.e. ring-like or horseshoe-shaped. The 16S rRNA gene sequence of strain HY9(T) was determined and blast searches revealed that it possessed significant sequence similarities with respect to Cyclobacterium species (92.8-93.6 %). Phylogenetic analysis confirmed that strain HY9(T) was tightly clustered with members of the genus Cyclobacterium. The cellular morphology and chemotaxonomic and phenotypic properties of strain HY9(T) showed that it should be classified as a member of the genus Cyclobacterium. Significant evolutionary distances and a range of phenotypic features distinguished strain HY9(T) from previously described Cyclobacterium species. Hence, strain HY9(T) represents a novel species in the genus Cyclobacterium, for which the name Cyclobacterium lianum sp. nov. is proposed. The type strain is HY9(T) (=CGMCC 1.6102(T)=JCM 14011(T)). On the basis of this study and previously described properties of Cyclobacterium species, an emended description of the genus Cyclobacterium is proposed.