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Pelotomaculum terephthalicum sp. nov. and Pelotomaculum isophthalicum sp. nov.: two anaerobic bacteria that degrade phthalate isomers in syntrophic association with hydrogenotrophic methanogens

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Abstract

An anaerobic phthalate isomer-degrading strain (JTT) that we previously isolated was characterized. In addition, a strictly anaerobic, mesophilic, syntrophic phthalate isomer-degrading bacterium, designated strain JIT, was isolated and characterized in this study. Both were non-motile rods that formed spores. In both strains, the optimal growth was observed at temperatures around 37°C and neutral pH. In syntrophic co-culture with the hydrogenotrophic methanogen Methanospirillum hungatei, both strains could utilize two or three phthalate isomers for growth, and produce acetate and methane as end products. Strain JTT was able to grow on isophthalate, terephthalate, and a number of low-molecular weight aromatic compounds, such as benzoate, hydroquinone, 2-hydroxybenzoate, 3-hydroxybenzoate, 2,5-dihydroxybenzoate, 3-phenylpropionate in co-culture with M. hungatei. It could also grow on crotonate, hydroquinone and 2,5-dihydroxybenzoate in pure culture. Strain JIT utilized all of the three phthalate isomers as well as benzoate and 3-hydroxybenzoate for growth in co-culture with M. hungatei. No substrates were, however, found to support the axenic growth of strain JIT. Neither strain JTT nor strain JIT could utilize sulfate, sulfite, thiosulfate, nitrate, fumarate, Fe (III) or 4-hydroxybenzoate as electron acceptor. Phylogenetically, strains JTT and JIT were relatively close to the members of the genera Pelotomaculum and Cryptanaerobacter in ‘Desulfotomaculum lineage I’. Physiological and chemotaxonomic characteristics indicated that the two isolates should be classified into the genus Pelotomaculum, creating two novel species for them. Here, we propose Pelotomaculum terephthalicum sp. nov. and Pelotomaculum isophthalicum sp. nov. for strain JTT and strain JIT, respectively. The type strains are strains JTT (= DSM 16121T = JCM 11824T = NBRC 100523T) and JIT (= JCM 12282T = BAA-1053T) for P. terephthalicum and P. isophthalicum, respectively.

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Acknowledgements

We thank the following researchers in the National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology (AIST): Xian-Ying Meng for TEM, and Mizuho Muramatsu and Akiko Ohashi for the determinations of quinones and the DNA base composition. This study was financially supported by a research grant on the support of young researchers with a term, subsidized by Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology, Japan. This study was also supported by grants of the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science (JSPS) Postdoctoral Fellowship for Foreign Researchers.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institute of Biological Resources and Functions, National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology (AIST), Central 6, 1-1-1 Higashi, 305-8566, Tsukuba, Ibaraki, Japan

    Yan-Ling Qiu, Yuji Sekiguchi, Satoshi Hanada & Yoichi Kamagata

  2. Department of Environmental Systems Engineering, Nagaoka University of Technology, Kamitomioka 1603-1, 940-2188, Nagaoka, Niigata, Japan

    Yan-Ling Qiu, Yuji Sekiguchi, Hiroyuki Imachi, Akiyoshi Ohashi, Hideki Harada & Yoichi Kamagata

  3. Department of Biology, National Cheng Kung University, Tainan 701, Taiwan

    I-Cheng Tseng

  4. Department of Environmental Engineering, National Cheng Kung University, Tainan 701, Taiwan

    Sheng-Shung Cheng

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  1. Yan-Ling Qiu
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  2. Yuji Sekiguchi
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  3. Satoshi Hanada
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  4. Hiroyuki Imachi
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  5. I-Cheng Tseng
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  6. Sheng-Shung Cheng
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  7. Akiyoshi Ohashi
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  8. Hideki Harada
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  9. Yoichi Kamagata
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Yuji Sekiguchi.

Additional information

Nucleotide sequence accession number: The GenBank/EMBL/DDBJ accession numbers of the 16S rRNA gene sequences of strains JTT and JIT are AB091323 and AB232785, respectively

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Qiu, YL., Sekiguchi, Y., Hanada, S. et al. Pelotomaculum terephthalicum sp. nov. and Pelotomaculum isophthalicum sp. nov.: two anaerobic bacteria that degrade phthalate isomers in syntrophic association with hydrogenotrophic methanogens. Arch Microbiol 185, 172–182 (2006). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00203-005-0081-5

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00203-005-0081-5

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