Chryseomicrobium excrementi sp. nov., a Gram-stain-positive rod-shaped bacterium isolated from an earthworm (Eisenia fetida) cast.

A Gram-stain-positive, rod-shaped, slightly halotolerant, nitrate-reducing bacterial strain, designated ET03, was isolated from the cast of an earthworm (Eisenia fetida) reared at the Centre of Floriculture and Agribusiness Management, University of North Bengal at Siliguri, West Bengal, India. On the basis of 16S rRNA gene sequence phylogeny, the closest relative of strain ET03 was Chryseomicrobium palamuruense PU1 (99.1 % similarity). The DNA G+C content of strain ET03 was 42.9 mol%. Strain ET03 contained menaquinone-8 as the most predominant menaquinone and phosphatidylethanolamine, phosphatidylinositol, phosphatidylinositol mannoside and phosphatidylglycerol as the main polar lipids. The diagnostic diamino acid was meso-diaminopimelic acid. Major cellular fatty acids were iso-C15 : 0, C16 : 1ω7c alcohol and iso-C16 : 0. Other biochemical and physiological analyses supported genotypic and phenotypic differentiation of the strain ET03 from its nearest taxonomic neighbours: Chryseomicrobium palamuruense,Chryseomicrobium amylolyticum, Chryseomicrobium imtechense, Chryseomicrobium aureum and Chryseomicrobium deserti. The draft genome of strain ET03 consisted of 2.64 Mb distributed in 14 scaffolds (N50 894072). A total of 2728 genes were predicted and, of those, 2664 were protein-coding genes including genes involved in the degradation of polychlorinated biphenyl and several aromatic compounds. The isolate, therefore, represents a novel species, for which the name Chryseomicrobium excrementi sp. nov. is proposed. The type strain is ET03 (=KCTC 33943=LMG 30119=JCM 32415).