Publications

4481

Opinion 112 denies the request to place Seliberia Aristovskaya and Parinkina 1963 (Approved Lists 1980) on the list of rejected names because the information provided is insufficient. For the same reason, Opinion 113 denies the request to reject Shewanella irciniae Lee et al. 2006 and Opinion 114 denies the request to reject the name Enterobacter siamensis Khunthongpan et al. 2014. Opinion 115 rejects the epithet of Moorella thermoautotrophica (Wiegel et al. 1981) Collins et al. 1994, which is regarded as a nomen confusum. To assess the consequences of Rule 8, Opinion 116 revisits names of taxa above the rank of genus which should comprise the stem of the name of a nomenclatural type and a category-specific ending but fail to do so. Such names should be orthographically corrected if the sole error is the inadvertent usage of an incorrect stem or be regarded as illegitimate if otherwise. The necessary corrections are made for a number of names. In Opinion 117, the request to designate Methylothermus subterraneus Hirayama et al. 2011 as the type species of the genus Methylothermus is denied because an equivalent action compatible with the Code was already conducted. In Opinion 118, the possible orthographical correction of the name Flaviaesturariibacter is treated, as are the analogous cases of Fredinandcohnia and Hydrogeniiclostidium . The genus names are corrected to Flaviaestuariibacter, Ferdinandcohnia and Hydrogeniiclostridium , respectively. Opinion 119 concludes that assigning Actinomycetales Buchanan 1917 (Approved Lists 1980) as nomenclatural type of the class Actinobacteria Stackebrandt et al. 1997 would not render that name legitimate if Rule 8 remained retroactive. The request is granted but Actinomycetales is also assigned as type of Actinomycetes Krassilnikov 1949 (Approved Lists 1980). In Opinion 120, the possible orthographical correction of the name Amycolatopsis albidoflavus is treated. It is grammatically corrected to Amycolatopsis albidoflava. Six names which could according to Rule 61 be grammatically corrected by anyone are also corrected. Opinion 121 denies the request to revise Opinion 69 and notes that Opinion 69 does not have the undesirable consequences emphasized in the request. In Opinion 122, the request to reject various taxon names of Mollicutes proposed in 2018 is denied because it is based on misinterpretations of the Code, which are clarified. Alternative ways to solve the perceived problems are outlined. These Opinions were ratified by the voting members of the International Committee on Systematics of Prokaryotes.

Uncultured bacteria of the candidate phylum MBNT15, distantly related to Desulfobacterota, have been identified in a broad range of mostly organic-rich aquatic environments. We assembled a near-complete genome of a member of MBNT15 from a boreal peatland metagenome and used genomic data to analyze the metabolic pathways of this bacterium and its ecological role. This bacterium, designated SHF-111, was predicted to be rod shaped, it lacks flagellar machinery but twitching motility is encoded. Genome-based phylogenetic analysis supported the phylum-level classification of the MBNT15 lineage. Genome annotation and metabolic reconstruction revealed the presence of the Embden–Meyerhof, Entner–Doudoroff and pentose phosphate pathways, as well as the complete tricarboxylic acid (TCA) cycle, and suggested a facultatively anaerobic chemoheterotrophic lifestyle with the ability to ferment peptides, amino acids, fatty acids and simple sugars, and completely oxidize these substrates through aerobic and anaerobic respiration. The SHF-111 genome encodes multiple multiheme c-type cytochromes that probably enable dissimilatory iron reduction. Consistently, the relative abundance of MBNT15 in peatlands positively correlated with iron concentration. Apparently, in the wetland ecosystem, MBNT15 representatives play the role of scavengers, carrying out the complete mineralization of low molecular weight organic substances formed as a result of microbial degradation of complex polymeric substrates. Comparative genome analysis of the MBNT15 phylum revealed that vast majority of its members are capable of aerobic respiration and dissimilatory iron reduction and some species also can reduce sulfur and nitrogen compounds, but not sulfate. Based on phylogenetic and genomic analyses, the novel bacterium is proposed to be classified as Candidatus Deferrimicrobium borealis, within a candidate phylum Deferrimicrobiota.

A co-culture of a novel thermoacidophilic, obligate symbiotic archaeon, designated as strain MJ1T, with its specific host archaeon Metallosphaera sedula strain MJ1HA was obtained from a terrestrial hot spring in Japan. Strain MJ1T grew in the co-culture under aerobic conditions. Coccoid cells of strain MJ1T were 200–500 nm in diameter, and attached to the MJ1HA cells in the co-culture. The ranges and optima of the growth temperature and pH of strain MJ1T in the co-culture were 60–75 °C (optimum, 65–70 °C) and pH 1.0–4.0 (optimum, pH 2.5), respectively. Core lipids of dialkyl glycerol tetraethers (GDGT)−3 and GDGT-4 were highly abundant in MJ1T cells concentrated from the co-culture. Strain MJ1T has a small genome (0.67 Mbp) lacking genes for biosynthesis of essential biomolecules, such as nucleotides, lipids and ATP. The genomic DNA G+C content was 24.9 mol%. The 16S rRNA gene sequence of strain MJ1T was most closely related to that of the cultivated species, ‘Nanopusillus acidilobi’ strain N7A (85.8 % similarity). Based on phylogenetic and physiological characteristics, we propose the name Nanobdella aerobiophila gen. nov., sp. nov. to accommodate the strain MJ1T (=JCM 33616T=DSM 111728T). In addition, we propose the names Nanobdellaceae fam. nov., Nanobdellales ord. nov., and Nanobdellia class. nov. to accommodate the novel genus.

Magnetosome synthesis in magnetotactic bacteria (MTB) is regarded as a very ancient evolutionary process that dates back to deep-branching phyla. Magnetotactic bacteria belonging to one of such phyla, Nitrospirota, contain the classical genes for the magnetosome synthesis (e.g., mam, mms) and man genes, which were considered to be specific for this group. However, the recent discovery of man genes in MTB from the Thermodesulfobacteriota phylum has raised several questions about the inheritance of these genes in MTB. In this work, three new man genes containing MTB genomes affiliated with Nitrospirota and Thermodesulfobacteriota, were obtained. By applying reconciliation with these and the previously published MTB genomes, we demonstrate that the last common ancestor of all Nitrospirota was most likely not magnetotactic as assumed previously. Instead, our findings suggest that the genes for magnetosome synthesis were transmitted to the phylum Nitrospirota by horizontal gene transfer (HGT), which is the first case of the interphylum transfer of magnetosome genes detected to date. Furthermore, we provide evidence for the HGT of magnetosome genes from the Magnetobacteriaceae to the Dissulfurispiraceae family within Nitrospirota. Thus, our results imply a more significant role of HGT in the MTB evolution than deemed before and challenge the hypothesis of the ancient origin of magnetosome synthesis.

‘Candidatus Phytoplasma trifolii’ is a cell wall-less phytopathogenic bacterium that infects many agriculturally important plant species such as alfalfa, clover, eggplant, pepper, potato, and tomato. The phytoplasma is responsible for repeated outbreaks of potato purple top (PPT) and potato witches’ broom (PWB) that occurred along the Pacific Coast of the United States since 2002, inflicting significant economic losses. To effectively manage these phytoplasmal diseases, it is important to develop diagnostic tools for specific, sensitive, and rapid detection of the pathogens. Here we report the development of a DNA endonuclease targeted CRISPR trans reporter (DETECTR) assay that couples isothermal amplification and Cas12a transcleavage of fluorescent oligonucleotide reporter for highly sensitive and specific detection of ‘Candidatus Phytoplasma trifolii’-related strains responsible for PPT and PWB. The DETECTR assay was capable of specifically detecting the 16S-23S ribosomal DNA intergenic transcribed spacer sequences from PPT- and PWB-diseased samples at the attomolar sensitivity level. Furthermore, the DETECTR strategy allows flexibility to capture assay outputs with fluorescent microplate readers or lateral flow assays for potentially high-throughput and/or field-deployable disease diagnostics.