Shewanella azerbaijanica sp. nov. a novel aquatic species with high bioremediation abilities.

A novel Gram-negative, facultative anaerobic, rod-shaped, and non-motile bacterium with bio-degradation potential of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) and uranium bio-reduction, designated as RCRI7 T , was isolated from Qurugöl Lake water near Tabriz city. Strain RCRI7 T can grow in the absence of NaCl and tolerates up to 3% NaCl (optimum, 0-0.5%), at the temperature range of 4-45 °C (optimum, 30 °C) and a pH range of 6-9 (optimum, pH 7 ± 0.5). Results of phylogenetic analysis based on 16S rRNA gene sequence indicated that strain RCRI7 T is affiliated with the genus Shewanella, most closely related to Shewanella xiamenensis S4 T (99.1%) and Shewanella putrefaciens JCM 20190 T (98.9%). The genomic DNA G+C content of strain RCRI7 T is 41 mol%. The major fatty acids are C 16:1 ω9c, C 18:1 ω9c and iso-C 17:1 ω5c. The OrthoANI and ANIb values between RCRI7 T and Shewanella xiamenensis S4 T were 87.4% and 87.7%, and between RCRI7 T and Shewanella putrefaciens JCM 20190 T were 79.5% and 79.7%, respectively. Strain RCRI7 T displayed dDDH values of 30.2% and 39.8% to Shewanella xiamenensis S4 T and Shewanella putrefaciens JCM 20190 T , respectively. The major polar lipids include phosphatidylglycerol (PG) and phosphatidylethanolamine (PE). The respiratory quinone is Q8. Based on the polyphasic evidence presented in this paper, strain RCRI7 T is considered to represent a novel species, with bioremediation potential, in the genus Shewanella, for which the name Shewanella azerbaijanica sp. nov. is proposed. The type strain is RCRI7 T (= JCM 17276 T ) (= KCTC 62476 T ).