Describing five new strains in the family Woeseiaceae and emended description of the order Woeseiales with genomic features related to environmental adaptation

Abstract

The family Woeseiaceae, also known as the JTB255 bacterial group, are ubiquitous and abundant core members of microbial communities in marine surface sediments. However, to date, only one Woeseiaceae strain isolated from marine sediments has been described, and the phylogeny and environmental adaptation mechanisms of this group have been little explored. Here, we isolated five novel Woeseiaceae strains from the marine solar saltern in Weihai, China. Multiple genomic, physiological, and chemotaxonomic characteristics supported that these five isolates represent three novel species within a novel genus, for which Lentisalinibacter gen. nov. and three species Lentisalinibacter sediminis sp. nov., Lentisalinibacter salinarum sp. nov. and Lentisalinibacter orientalis sp. nov. are proposed. Moreover, phylogenetic analysis based on the 16S rRNA genes and genome sequences revealed that Woeseiaceae is most closely related to Steroidobacterales. Further comparative genomics analysis indicated the separate evolution of Woeseiaceae and Steroidobacterales, supporting the emended description of the order Woeseiales. Woeseiales representitives showed facultatively anaerobic characteristics and small genome sizes in contrast to their phylogenetic relatives. They primarily inhabit surface marine sediment environments using multiple metabolic and ecological strategies to adapt to the changing microenvironments. Our results demonstrate the novel representatives of Woeseiales and their environmental adaptation mechanisms in marine environments.