AUTHOR=Tak Euon J. , Kim Pil S. , Hyun Dong-Wook , Kim Hyun S. , Lee June-Young , Kang Woorim , Sung Hojun , Shin Na-Ri , Kim Min-Soo , Whon Tae W. , Bae Jin-Woo 

TITLE=Phenotypic and Genomic Properties of Brachybacterium vulturis sp. nov. and Brachybacterium avium sp. nov.

JOURNAL=Frontiers in Microbiology

VOLUME=9

YEAR=2018

URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/microbiology/articles/10.3389/fmicb.2018.01809

DOI=10.3389/fmicb.2018.01809

ISSN=1664-302X

ABSTRACT=<p>Two strains, VM2412<sup>T</sup> and VR2415<sup>T</sup>, were isolated from the feces of an Andean condor (<italic>Vultur gryphus</italic>) living in Seoul Grand Park, Gyeonggi-do, South Korea. Cells of both strains were observed to be Gram-stain positive, non-motile, aerobic, catalase positive and oxidase negative. Growth was found to occur at 10-30°C, showing optimum growth at 30°C. The strains could tolerate up to 15% (w/v) NaCl concentration and grow at pH 6-9. The strains shared 99.3% 16S rRNA gene sequence similarity to each other but were identified as two distinct species based on 89.0-89.2% ANIb, 90.3% ANIm, 89.7% OrthoANI and 38.0% dDDH values calculated using whole genome sequences. Among species with validly published names, <italic>Brachybacterium ginsengisoli</italic> DCY80<sup>T</sup> shared high 16S rRNA gene sequence similarities with strains VM2412<sup>T</sup> (98.7%) and VR2415<sup>T</sup> (98.4%) and close genetic relatedness with strains VM2412<sup>T</sup> (83.3–83.5% ANIb, 87.0% ANIm, 84.3% OrthoANI and 27.8% dDDH) and VR2415<sup>T</sup> (82.8–83.2% ANIb, 86.7% ANIm, 83.9% OrthoANI and 27.2% dDDH). The major fatty acid of the two strains was identified as anteiso-C<sub>15:0</sub> and the polar lipids consisted of phosphatidylglycerol, diphosphatidylglycerol, presumptively phosphatidylethanolamine and three unidentified glycolipids. Strain VR2415<sup>T</sup> also produced an unidentified phospholipid. The cell walls of the two strains contained <italic>meso</italic>-diaminopimelic acid as diagnostic diamino acid and the whole cell sugars were ribose, glucose, and galactose. The strains contained MK-7 as their predominant menaquinone. The genomes of strains VM2412<sup>T</sup>, VR2415<sup>T</sup>, and <italic>B. ginsengisoli</italic> DCY80<sup>T</sup> were sequenced in this study. The genomic G+C contents of strains VM2412<sup>T</sup> and VR2415<sup>T</sup> were determined to be 70.8 and 70.4 mol%, respectively. A genome-based phylogenetic tree constructed using an up-to-date bacterial core gene set (UBCG) showed that the strains formed a clade with members of the genus <italic>Brachybacterium</italic>, supporting their taxonomic classification into the genus <italic>Brachybacterium</italic>. Based on phenotypic and genotypic analyses in this study, strains VM2412<sup>T</sup> and VR2415<sup>T</sup> are considered to represent two novel species of the genus <italic>Brachybacterium</italic> and the names <italic>Brachybacterium vulturis</italic> sp. nov. and <italic>Brachybacterium avium</italic> sp. nov. are proposed for strains VM2412<sup>T</sup> (=KCTC 39996<sup>T</sup> = JCM 32142<sup>T</sup>) and VR2415<sup>T</sup> (=KCTC 39997<sup>T</sup> = JCM 32143<sup>T</sup>), respectively.</p>