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Abstract

A bacterial strain, designated strain LPO1(T), was isolated from a laboratory-scale microcosm packed with a mixture of soil and sewage sludge compost designed to study the evolution of microbial biodiversity over time. The bacterial strain was selected for its potential ability to store polyhydroxyalkanoates (PHAs) as intracellular granules. The cells were aerobic, Gram-stain-negative, non-endospore-forming motile rods. Phylogenetically, the strain was classified within the genus Massilia, as its 16S rRNA gene sequence had similarity of 99.2% with respect to those of Massilia albidiflava DSM 17472(T) and M. lutea DSM 17473(T). DNA DNA hybridization showed low relatedness of strain LPO1(T) to the type strains of other, phylogenetically related species of the genus Massilia. It contained Q-8 as the predominant ubiquinone and summed feature 3 (C-16:1 omega 7c and/or iso-C-15:0 2-OH) as the major fatty acid(s). It was found to contain small amounts of the fatty acids C-18:0 and C-14:0 2-OH, a feature that served to distinguish it from its closest phylogenetic relatives within the genus Massilia. The DNA G C content was 66.0 mol%. Phylogenetic, phenotypic and chemotaxonomic data obtained in this study suggest that strain LPO1T represents a novel species of the genus Massilia, for which the name Massilia umbonata sp. nov. is proposed. The type strain is LP01(T) (=CECT 7753(T)=DSM 26121(T)).