Frondicola australicus gen. nov., sp nov., isolated from decaying leaf litter from a pine forest

An aerobic bacterium, designated strain El HC-O2, was isolated from the decaying leaf litter of a slash pine forest located in southeast Queensland, Australia. Cells of strain El HC-O2 T were short irregular rods (0.5-1.0 x 0.2-0.4 mu m) which stained Gram-positive and possessed a cell-wall ultrastructure which appeared to be made of protein subunits. The novel strain grew optimally in 1 % trypticase soy broth (TSB) at 25 degrees C and at a pH of 9.1. Strain E1 HC-O2(T) metabolized a range of carbohydrates, organic acids and amino acids. The G + C content of the DNA was 71 +/- 1 mol% as determined by the thermal denaturation method. 16S rRNA gene sequence analysis of strain E1HC-O2(T) showed that it was a member of the family Microbacteriaceae, phylum Actinobacteria. The cell wall contained a type B2 beta pepticloglycan, the dominant cellular fatty acid was 18: 1 omega 7c and the major hydroxy fatty acid was 2-OH 14 : 0. The major menaquinones were MK-8 (76 %) and MK-7 (24 %) and the glycolipids present were disphosphatidylglycerol, phosphaticlylglycerol and three unidentified phospholipids. The chemotaxonomic properties of strain E1HC-O2(T) were distinctly different to all of the 17 genera of the family Microbacteriaceae and hence strain E1HC-O2(T) is designated as representing a novel species of a new genus, Frondicola australicus gen. nov., sp. nov. The type strain of the type species is E1HC-O2(T) (=jCM 13598(T) =DSM 17894(T)).