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. 2021 Mar 15:12:639396.
doi: 10.3389/fmicb.2021.639396. eCollection 2021.

Methylobacterium ajmalii sp. nov., Isolated From the International Space Station

Swati Bijlani  1 , Nitin K Singh  2 , V V Ramprasad Eedara  3 , Appa Rao Podile  3 , Christopher E Mason  4 , Clay C C Wang  1 , Kasthuri Venkateswaran  2
Affiliations

Methylobacterium ajmalii sp. nov., Isolated From the International Space Station

Swati Bijlani et al. Front Microbiol. .

Abstract

Four strains belonging to the family of Methylobacteriaceae were isolated from different locations on the International Space Station (ISS) across two consecutive flights. Of these, three were identified as Gram-negative, rod-shaped, catalase-positive, oxidase-positive, motile bacteria, designated as IF7SW-B2T, IIF1SW-B5, and IIF4SW-B5, whereas the fourth was identified as Methylorubrum rhodesianum. The sequence similarity of these three ISS strains, designated as IF7SW-B2T, IIF1SW-B5, and IIF4SW-B5, was <99.4% for 16S rRNA genes and <97.3% for gyrB gene, with the closest being Methylobacterium indicum SE2.11T. Furthermore, the multi-locus sequence analysis placed these three ISS strains in the same clade of M. indicum. The average nucleotide identity (ANI) values of these three ISS strains were <93% and digital DNA-DNA hybridization (dDDH) values were <46.4% with any described Methylobacterium species. Based on the ANI and dDDH analyses, these three ISS strains were considered as novel species belonging to the genus Methylobacterium. The three ISS strains showed 100% ANI similarity and dDDH values with each other, indicating that these three ISS strains, isolated during various flights and from different locations, belong to the same species. These three ISS strains were found to grow optimally at temperatures from 25 to 30°C, pH 6.0 to 8.0, and NaCl 0 to 1%. Phenotypically, these three ISS strains resemble M. aquaticum and M. terrae since they assimilate similar sugars as sole carbon substrate when compared to other Methylobacterium species. Fatty acid analysis showed that the major fatty acid produced by the ISS strains are C18 : 1-ω7c and C18 : 1-ω6c. The predominant quinone was ubiquinone 10, and the major polar lipids were diphosphatidylglycerol, phosphatidylcholine, phosphatidylethanolamine, phosphatidylglycerol, and an unidentified lipid. Therefore, based on genomic, phylogenetic, biochemical, and fatty acid analyses, strains IF7SW-B2T, IIF1SW-B5, and IIF4SW-B5, are assigned to a novel species within the genus Methylobacterium, and the name Methylobacterium ajmalii sp. nov. is proposed. The type strain is IF7SW-B2T (NRRL B-65601T and LMG 32165T).

Keywords: ANI; Methylobacterium; international space station (ISS); polyphasic taxomony; whole genome sequencing.

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Conflict of interest statement

The author(s) declare that there are no conflicts of interest. This manuscript was prepared as an account of work sponsored by NASA, an agency of the US Government. The US Government, NASA, California Institute of Technology, Jet Propulsion Laboratory, and their employees make no warranty, expressed or implied, or assume any liability or responsibility for the accuracy, completeness, or usefulness of information, apparatus, product, or process disclosed in this manuscript, or represents that its use would not infringe upon privately held rights. The use of, and references to any commercial product, process, or service does not necessarily constitute or imply endorsement, recommendation, or favoring by the U.S. Government, NASA, California Institute of Technology, or Jet Propulsion Laboratory. Views and opinions presented herein by the authors of this manuscript do not necessarily reflect those of the U.S. Government, NASA, California Institute of Technology, or Jet Propulsion Laboratory, and shall not be used for advertisements or product endorsements.

Figures

FIGURE 1
FIGURE 1
Maximum likelihood phylogenetic tree based on 16S rRNA gene sequences shows the relationship of Methylobacterium ajmalii sp. nov. with members of the family Methylobacteriaceae. Bootstrap values from 1,000 replications are shown at branch points. Bar, 0.02 substitution per site.
FIGURE 2
FIGURE 2
Maximum likelihood phylogenetic tree, based on DNA gyrase gene (gyrB) sequences, showing the phylogenetic relationship of Methylobacterium ajmalii sp. nov. with members of the family Methylobacteriaceae. Bootstrap values from 1,000 replications are shown at branch points. Bar, 0.05 substitution per site.
FIGURE 3
FIGURE 3
Maximum likelihood phylogenetic tree, based on six gene sequences (atpD, recA, dnaK, rpoB, glnI, and gyrB) concatenated manually, showing the phylogenetic relationship of Methylobacterium ajmalii sp. nov. with members of the family Methylobacteriaceae. Bootstrap values from 1,000 replications are shown at branch points. Bar, 0.05 substitution per site.
FIGURE 4
FIGURE 4
Genome-based phylogenetic tree showing the phylogenetic relationship of Methylobacterium ajmalii sp. nov. with members of the family Methylobacteriaceae.
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