Brachymonas chironomi sp. nov., isolated from a chironomid egg mass, and emended description of the genus Brachymonas

1 Department of Biology, Faculty of Science and Science Education, University of Haifa, Oranim, Tivon 36006, Israel 2 DSMZ–Deutsche Sammlung von Mikroorganismen und Zellkulturen GmbH, Inhoffenstraße 7B, D-38124 Braunschweig, Germany Correspondence Malka Halpern mhalpern{at}research.haifa.ac.il A Gram-negative, aerobic, chemo-organotrophic, catalase- and oxidase-positive strain, designated AIMA4 T , was isolated from a chironomid (Diptera; Chironomidae) egg mass which was sampled from a waste stabilization pond in northern Israel. Phylogenetic analysis based on the 16S rRNA gene placed strain AIMA4 T in the genus Brachymonas (class Betaproteobacteria ). Strain AIMA4 T shared 16S rRNA gene sequence similarity values of 96.9 % with Brachymonas denitrificans JCM 9216 T and 10 %) of strain AIMA4 T were C 16 : 1 7 c , C 16 : 0 and C 18 : 1 7 c . Phosphatidylethanolamine, phosphatidylglycerol and phosphatidylserine were the predominant components of the polar lipids. The major ubiquinone was Q-8. On the basis of phenotypic properties and phylogenetic distinctiveness, strain AIMA4 T (=LMG 24400 T =DSM 19884 T ) was classified in the genus Brachymonas as the type strain of a novel species for which the name Brachymonas chironomi sp. nov. is proposed. The GenBank/EMBL/DDBJ accession number for the 16S rRNA gene sequence of strain AIMA4 T is EU346912 . An electron micrograph of negatively stained cells of strain AIMA4 T , polar lipid profiles of Brachymonas denitrificans DSM 15123 T and strain AIMA4 T , and a table detailing the fatty acid contents of Brachymonas denitrificans DSM 15123 T and strain AIMA4 T are available as supplementary material with the online version of this paper.