Sphingobium czechense sp nov., isolated from a hexachlorocyclohexane dump site

A yellow pigmented bacterial strain, designated LL01T, was isolated from hexachlorocyclohexane (HCH)-contaminated soil in Spolana Neratovice, former Czech producer of Lindane. A neighbour-joining tree based on 16S rRNA gene sequences showed that strain LL01T occupied a distinct phylogenetic position in the Sphingobium cluster, showing highest similarity with Sphingobium rhizovicinum CC-FH12-1T (98.5%). The DNA G+C content of strain LL01T was 66.1 mol%. The predominant respiratory pigment ubiquonone Q10 is present. The polar lipid profile of the strain LL01T also corresponded to those reported for other Sphingobium species (phosphatidylethanolamine, diphosphatidylglycerol, phosphatidylcholine, phosphatidylglycerol, phosphatidylmonomethylethanolamine, phosphatidyldimethylethanolamine, sphingoglycolipids), supporting its identification as member of the genus Sphingobium. Spermidine was the major polyamine observed in the cell. The results obtained after DNA-DNA hybridization, biochemical and physiological tests clearly distinguished it from closely related species of the genus Sphingobium. Therefore, strain LL01T represents a novel species of the genus Sphingobium for which the name Sphingobium czechense LL01T sp. nov. is proposed (=CCM 7979T=DSM 25410T).