Fusibacter bizertensis sp. nov., isolated from a corroded kerosene storage tank

Strain LTF Kr01 ᵀ, a novel mesophilic, anaerobic, halotolerant, rod-shaped bacterium, was isolated from a drain at the bottom of a corroded kerosene storage tank of the Société Tunisienne des Industries de Raffinage (STIR), Bizerte, northern Tunisia. Cells were Gram-positive-staining rods, occurred singly or in pairs, and were motile by one lateral flagellum. Strain LTF Kr01 ᵀ grew at temperatures between 15 and 40 °C (optimum 30 °C), between pH 5.5 and 8.2 (optimum pH 7.2) and at NaCl concentrations between 0 and 50 g l ⁻¹ (optimum 5 g l ⁻¹). It reduced thiosulfate and elemental sulfur into sulfide, but did not reduce sulfate or sulfite. It utilized a wide range of carbohydrates (cellobiose, d -glucose, d -fructose, d -mannitol, d -ribose, sucrose, d -xylose, maltose, d -galactose, starch and trehalose) and produced acetate, CO ₂ and H ₂ as end products from glucose fermentation. The DNA G+C content was 37.4 mol%. The predominant cellular fatty acids were C ₁₄ : ₀ and C ₁₆ : ₀. Phylogenetic analysis of the 16S rRNA gene sequence suggested that Fusibacter tunisiensis was the closest relative of strain LTF Kr01 ᵀ (gene sequence similarity of 94.6 %). Based on phenotypic, phylogenetic and genotypic taxonomic characteristics, strain LTF Kr01 ᵀ is proposed to represent a novel species of the genus Fusibacter , order Clostridiales , for which the name Fusibacter bizertensis sp. nov. is proposed. The type strain is LTF Kr01 ᵀ (= DSM 28034 ᵀ = JCM 19376 ᵀ).