Algoriphagus antarcticus sp. nov., a novel psychrophile from microbial mats in Antarctic lakes.

A taxonomic study was performed on six strains isolated from microbial mats of lakes Reid, Fryxell and Ace in Antarctica. Phylogenetic analysis based on 16S rRNA gene sequences indicated that these strains belonged to the family 'Flexibacteraceae' and were closely related to the recently described genera Algoriphagus and Hongiella. The isolates were Gram-negative, chemoheterotrophic, aerobic, psychrophilic, orange-red-pigmented bacteria and their DNA G+C content ranged from 39.9 to 41.0 mol%. Whole-cell fatty acid profiles included mainly branched fatty acids and summed feature 3, comprising 15 : 0 iso 2OH, 16 : 1omega7c or both. On the basis of genotypic, phenotypic, chemotaxonomic and phylogenetic results, the novel strains were classified as Algoriphagus antarcticus sp. nov. The type strain is LMG 21980(T) (=DSM 15986(T)=R-10710(T)).