Tetrathiobacter mimigardefordensis sp. nov., isolated from compost, a betaproteobacterium capable of utilizing the organic disulfide 3,3'-dithiodipropionic acid.

In this study, a novel betaproteobacterium, strain DPN7(T), was isolated under mesophilic conditions from compost because of its capacity to utilize the organic disulfide 3,3'-dithiodipropionic acid. Analysis of the 16S rRNA gene sequence of strain DPN7(T) revealed 98.5 % similarity to that of Tetrathiobacter kashmirensis LMG 22695(T). Values for sequence similarity to members of the genera Alcaligenes, Castellaniella and Taylorella, the nearest neighbours of the genus Tetrathiobacter, were about 95 % or less. The DNA G + C content of strain DPN7(T) was 55.1 mol%. The level of DNA-DNA hybridization between strain DPN7(T) and T. kashmirensis LMG 22695(T) was 41 %, whereas it was much lower between strain DPN7(T) and Alcaligenes faecalis LMG 1229(T) (7 %) or Castellaniella defragrans LMG 18538(T) (5 %). This genotypic divergence was supported by differences in biochemical and chemotaxonomic characteristics. For this reason, and because of the differences in the protein and fatty acid profiles, strain DPN7(T) should be classified within a novel species of Tetrathiobacter, for which the name Tetrathiobacter mimigardefordensis sp. nov. is proposed. The type strain is strain DPN7(T) (=DSM 17166(T) = LMG 22922(T)).