Deinococcus phoenicis sp. nov., an extreme ionizing-radiation-resistant bacterium isolated from the Phoenix Lander assembly facility

• Published in: International journal of systematic and evolutionary microbiology Vol. 64; no. Pt 10; pp. 3441 - 3446
• Main Authors: Vaishampayan, Parag, Roberts, Anne Hayden, Augustus, Angela, Pukall, Rüdiger, Schumann, Peter, Schwendner, Petra, Mayilraj, Shanmugam, Salmassi, Tina, Venkateswaran, Kasthuri
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: England International Union of Microbiological Societies 01.10.2014
• Subjects: bacteria; Base Composition; Deinococcus; Deinococcus - classification; Deinococcus - genetics; Deinococcus - isolation & purification; Deinococcus - radiation effects; DNA, Bacterial - genetics; Environment, Controlled; fatty acids; Fatty Acids - chemistry; Florida; gamma radiation; Gamma Rays; Molecular Sequence Data; nucleotide sequences; Phylogeny; Pigmentation; ribosomal RNA; RNA, Ribosomal, 16S - genetics; Sequence Analysis, DNA; sodium chloride; Vitamin K 2 - analogs & derivatives; Vitamin K 2 - chemistry
• ISSN: 1466-5034; 1466-5026; 1466-5034
• DOI: 10.1099/ijs.0.063107-0

A bacterial strain, designated 1P10MET, which was resistant to extreme doses of ionizing radiation, pale-pink, non-motile, and a tetrad-forming coccoid was isolated from a cleanroom at the Kennedy Space Center, where the Phoenix spacecraft was assembled. Strain 1P10MET showed optimum growth at 30 °C, with a pH range for growth of 6.5–9.0 and was highly sensitive to sodium chloride, growing only in medium with no added NaCl. Phylogenetic analysis based on 16S rRNA gene sequences indicated that strain 1P10MET represents a novel member of the genus Deinococcus, with low sequence similarities (<93.5 %) to recognized species of the genus Deinococcus. The predominant cellular fatty acid was C15 : 1ω6c. This novel strain exhibits extreme resistance to gamma radiation (D10 >8 kGy) and UV (D10 >1000 Jm−2). The results of our polyphasic taxonomic analyses suggest that strain 1P10MET represents a novel species of the genus Deinococcus, for which the name Deinococcus phoenicis sp. nov. is proposed. The type strain is 1P10MET ( = NRRL B-59546T = DSM 27173T).