Gram-negative, rod-shaped bacteria, designated as strains PL04ᵀ and SM01ᵀ, were isolated from King George Island, Antarctica. 16S rRNA gene sequence-based phylogenetic analysis indicated that strain PL04ᵀ belongs to the genus Formosa within the family Flavobacteriaceae . Pairwise 16S rRNA gene sequence comparison showed that Formosa arctica IMCC 9458ᵀ was the closest recognized relative (98.34% sequence similarity). Likewise, 16S rRNA gene sequence-based phylogenetic analysis revealed that strain SM01ᵀ is affiliated with the genus Polaromonas within the family Comamonadaceae , showing the highest sequence similarity to Polaromonas ginsengisoli Gsoil 115ᵀ (98.42%). The genomic DNA G+C contents of strains PL04ᵀ and SM01ᵀ were 32.8% and 61.81%, respectively. The major cellular fatty acids of PL04ᵀ and SM01 T were iso-C 15:0 , iso-C 15:1 G double peak identified as C 15:1 iso ω 5 c and C 15:1 iso ω 10 c by GC–mass spectrometry (MS) and C ₁₆:0 , summed feature 3 (identified as C ₁₆:1 ω 7 c by GC–MS), respectively. Based on the phenotypic and phylogenetic characteristics, strain PL04ᵀ is considered to represent a novel species of the genus Formosa , for which the name Formosa sejongensis sp. nov. is proposed, with PL04ᵀ (=KCTC 102051ᵀ=DSM 117045ᵀ) as the type strain. Similarly, strain SM01ᵀ is considered to represent a novel species of the genus Polaromonas , for which the name Polaromonas potterensis sp. nov. is proposed, with SM01ᵀ (=KCTC 8096ᵀ=DSM 116566ᵀ) as the type strain.
Choi et al. (Wed,) studied this question.