Desulfovibrio marrakechensis sp. nov., a 1,4-tyrosol-oxidizing, sulfate-reducing bacterium isolated from olive mill wastewater

1 Anaerobic Microbiology Team (E02B26), Sciences and Techniques Faculty, Cadi Ayyad University, PO Box 549, 40 000 Marrakech, Morocco 2 DSMZ – Deutsche Sammlung von Mikroorganismen und Zellkulturen GmbH, Inhoffenstraße 7B, D-38124 Braunschweig, Germany 3 REQUIMTE/CQFB, Departamento de Química, FCT/UNL, 2829-516 Caparica, Portugal 4 Unidade de Investigação em Biodiversidade e Desenvolvimento, Universidade Lusófona de Humanidades e Tecnologias, Campo Grande 376, 1749-024 Lisboa, Portugal 5 School of Science and Engineering, Al Akhawayn University, PO Box 1846, Ifrane, Morocco 6 IRD, UMR180 LMBEC, Université de Provence et de La Méditerranée, ESIL, Case 925, 163 Avenue de Luminy, F-13288 Marseille, France Correspondence Abdel-Illah Qatibi qatibi{at}fstg-marrakech.ac.ma A novel mesophilic sulfate-reducing bacterium, EMSSDQ 4 T , was isolated from olive mill wastewater in the semi-arid region of Morocco (Marrakech). Cells were Gram-negative, catalase-positive, straight rods that were non-motile and non-spore-forming and contained cytochrome c 3 and desulfoviridin. The DNA G+C content was 65.1 mol%. Phylogenetic analysis based on 16S rRNA gene sequences revealed that the isolate was a member of the genus Desulfovibrio with Desulfovibrio carbinoliphilus D41 T , Desulfovibrio alcoholivorans SPSN T , Desulfovibrio fructosivorans JJ T and Desulfovibrio carbinolicus EDK82 T as the most closely related strains with validly published names. In addition to the classical substrates used by Desulfovibrio species, the isolate oxidized 1,4-tyrosol, one of the most abundant phenolic compounds occurring in olive mill wastewater, to 4-hydroxyphenylacetate without ring cleavage. D. alcoholivorans SPSN T was also found to carry out this reaction. Under air, strain EMSSDQ 4 T exhibited limited growth on lactate and yeast extract in the absence of sulfate. On the basis of genotypic and phenotypic characteristics, it is proposed that the isolate represents a novel species, Desulfovibrio marrakechensis sp. nov. The type strain is EMSSDQ 4 T (=DSM 19337 T =ATCC BAA-1562 T ). Abbreviations: OMW, olive mill wastewater The authors dedicate this paper to the memory of Professor Norbert Pfennig (1925–2008). The GenBank/EMBL/DDBJ accession number for the 16S rRNA gene sequence of strain EMSSDQ 4 T is AM947130 . Photomicrographs of cells of strain EMSSDQ 4 T and growth curves of strain EMSSDQ 4 T and related strains cultivated in air in the absence of sulfate are available as supplementary