Oecophyllibacter saccharovoransgen. nov. sp. nov., a bacterial symbiont of the weaver antOecophylla smaragdina

• DOI: 10.1101/2020.02.15.950782
• Publication Date: 2020-02-16T12:55:11Z
• Authors: Kah-Ooi Chua; Wah-Seng See-Too; Jia-Yi Tan; Sze-Looi Song; Hoi-Sen Yong; Wai-Fong Yin; Kok-Gan Chan
• Keywords: DNA, Bacterial; 0301 basic medicine; Base Composition; Ants; Ubiquinone; Fatty Acids; Malaysia; Nucleic Acid Hybridization; Sequence Analysis, DNA; Bacterial Typing Techniques; Random Amplified Polymorphic DNA Technique; 03 medical and health sciences; RNA, Ribosomal, 16S; Acetobacteraceae; Animals; Symbiosis; Phospholipids; Phylogeny

AbstractIn this study, bacterial strains Ha5T, Ta1 and Jb2 were isolated from different colonies of weaver antOecophylla smaragdina. They were distinguished as different strains based on matrix-assisted laser desorption ionization-time of flight (MALDI-TOF) mass spectrometry and distinctive random-amplified polymorphic DNA (RAPD) fingerprints. Cells of these bacterial strains were Gram-negative, rod-shaped, aerobic, non-motile, catalase-positive and oxidase-negative. They were able to grow at 15–37°C (optimum, 28–30°C) and in the presence of 0–1.5 % (w/v) NaCl (optimum 0%). Their predominant cellular fatty acids were C18:1ω7c, C16:0, C19:0ω8ccyclo, C14:0and C16:02-OH. Strains Ha5T, Ta1 and Jb2 shared highest 16S rRNA gene sequence similarity (94.56–94.63%) withNeokomagataea tanensisNBRC106556Tbut were phylogenetically closer toBombellaspp. andSaccharibacterfloricolaDSM15669T. Both 16S rRNA gene sequence-based phylogenetic analysis and core gene-based phylogenomic analysis placed them in a distinct lineage in familyAcetobacteraceae. These bacterial strains shared higher than species level thresholds in multiple overall genome-relatedness indices which indicated that they belonged to the same species. In addition, they did not belong to any of the current taxa ofAcetobacteraceaeas they had low pairwise average nucleotide identity (≤70.7%),in silicoDNA-DNA hybridization (≤39.5%) and average amino acid identity (≤66.ü%) values with all the type members of the family. Based on these results, bacterial strains Ha5T, Ta1 and Jb2 represent a novel species of a novel genus in familyAcetobacteraceae,for which we propose the nameOecophyllibacter saccharovoransgen. nov. sp. nov., and strain Ha5Tas the type strain.