DIRECT SEQUENCING OF THE POLYMERASE CHAIN REACTION-AMPLIFIED 16S RIBOSOMAL-RNA GENE OF FLAVOBACTERIUM-GONDWANENSE SP-NOV AND FLAVOBACTERIUM-SALEGENS SP-NOV, 2 NEW SPECIES FROM A HYPERSALINE ANTARCTIC LAKE

Phenotypic data and Phospholipid ester-linked fatty acid profiles indicate that pigmented bacterial strains isolated from a hypersaline Antarctic lake are members of the ''flavobacterium-bacteroides'' phylum and may represent new taxa. Nearly complete 16S rRNA sequences were obtained for representative strains by directly sequencing the polymerase chain reaction-amplified 16S rRNA gene. Sequence signatures confirmed that these organisms were members of the flavobacterium-bacteroides phylum. A phylogenetic analysis, in which the sequences of the Antarctic strains were compared with a large number of sequences available for members of the flavobacterium-bacteroides phylum, showed that the Antarctic strains were phylogenetically distinct. The new species cluster with a group of organisms that contains the type species of the genus Flavobacterium, Flavobacterium aquatile. Two new species are described, for which the names Flavobacterium gondwanense and Flavobacterium salegens are proposed; strains ACAM 44 (= DSM 5423) a nd ACAM 48 (= DSM 5424) are the type strains of F. gondwanense and F. salegens, respectively.