Ancylobacter moscoviensissp. nov., novel facultatively methylotrophic bacteria from activated sludge and the reclassification of Starkeya novella (Starkey 1934) Kelly et al. 2000 as Ancylobacter novellus comb. nov., Starkeya koreensis Im et al. 2006 as Ancylobacter koreensis comb.nov., Angulomicrobium tetraedrale Vasil'eva et al. 1986 as Ancylobacter tetraedralis comb. nov., Angulomicrobium amanitiforme Fritz et al. 2004 as Ancylobacter amanitiformis comb. nov., and Methylorhabdus multivorans Doronina et al. 1996 as Ancylobacter multivorans comb. nov., and emended description of the genus Ancylobacter

Three novel facultatively methylotrophic bacteria, strains 3C(T), 1A, 8P, were isolated from activated sludges. The isolates were aerobic, Gram-stain-negative, non-motile, non-spore forming rods multiplying by binary fission. The predominant polar lipids were phosphatidylcholine, phosphatidylglycerol, phosphatidylethylethanolamine, phosphatidylmonomethylethanolamine, and diphosphatidylglycerol. The major fatty acids of cells were C-18:1 omega 7c, C-19:0 omega 8c cyclo and C-16:0. Levels of 16S rRNA gene similarity indicates that the closely relatives are representatives of the genera Starkeya, Ancylobacter, Angulomicrobium and Methylorhabdus (96.4-99.4%). Genomic comparisons of 3C(T) and its closest relatives, S. novella DSM 506(T) and S. koreensis Jip08(T), shared 87.3 and 86.8% nucleotide identity and 28.3 and 26.8% digital DNA-DNA hybridization values, respectively. The average amino acid identities between the strain 3C(T) and representatives of Starkeya, Ancylobacter and Angulomicrobium were in the range of 75.6-84.3%, which combines these strains into a single genus and gives rise to their reclassification. Based on polyphasic analyses, the strains 3C(T), 1A, 8P represents a novel species of the genus Ancylobacter, for which the name Ancylobacter moscoviensis sp. nov. is proposed. The type strain is 3C(T) (= VKM B-3218(T) = KCTC 62336(T)). Furthermore, we also suggested the reclassification of Starkeya novella as Ancylobacter novellus comb. nov., Starkeya koreensis as Ancylobacter koreensis comb. nov., Angulomicrobium tetraedrale as Ancylobacter tetraedralis comb. nov., Angulomicrobium amanitiforme as Ancylobacter amanitiformis comb. nov. and Methylorhabdus multivorans as Ancylobacter multivorans comb. nov. with the emended description of the genus Ancylobacter.

Automated summary

Three novel facultatively methylotrophic bacteria isolated from activated sludges were characterized. They were classified as a new species of the genus Ancylobacter and four previously classified species were suggested to be reclassified under the genus Ancylobacter. The polyphasic analyses supported these reclassifications.