Chelativorans petroleitrophicus sp. nov., a paraffin oil-degrading bacterium isolated from a mixture of oil-based drill cuttings and paddy soil

We isolated a paraffin oil-degrading bacterial strain from a mixture of oil-based drill cutting and paddy soil, and characterized the strain using a polyphasic approach. The Gram-positive, aerobic, rod-shaped and non-spore-forming strain (SCAU 2101^T) grew optimally at 50 °C, pH 7.0 and 0.5% (w/v) NaCl. Phylogenetic analysis based on 16S rRNA gene sequence indicated that the strain represented a distinct clade in the genus Chelativorans, neighbouring Chelativorans intermedius LMG 28482^T (97.1 %). The genome size and DNA G+C content of the strain were 3 969 430 bp and 63.1 mol%, respectively. Whole genome based phylogenomic analyses showed that the average nucleotide identity and digital DNA–DNA hybridization values between strain SCAU 2101^T and C. intermedius LMG 28482^T were 77.5 and 21.2%, respectively. The major respiratory quinone was Q-10. The dominant fatty acids were C_19:0 cyclo ω8c (50.6%), summed feature 8 (C_18:1 ω7c and/or C_18:1 ω6c; 22.5%) and C_18:0 (13.8%). The polar lipids of the strain included phosphatidylethanolamine, phosphatidylmonomethylethanolamine, phosphatidylglycerol, phosphatidylcholine and diphosphatidylglycerol. Based on the results, strain SCAU 2101^T was considered to represent a novel species in the genus Chelativorans, for which the name Chelativorans petroleitrophicus sp. nov. is proposed. The type strain is SCAU 2101^T (= CCTCC AB 2021125^T=KCTC 92067^T).