Vreelandella arctica sp. nov. and Vreelandella indica sp. nov., isolated from the Arctic Ocean and the Southwest Indian Ocean sediment

Four Gram-stain-negative bacterial strains which can metabolize alkanes and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons were isolated. Strains R06ZXJ2^T and R09ZXJ6 were isolated from sediments collected in the Arctic Ocean. Strains DY715-9^T and DY716-13-1 were isolated from surface sediment samples collected by the deep-sea TV grab in the southwestern Indian Ocean. Phylogenomic analyses based on 16S rRNA gene sequences, average nt identity (ANI) and digital DNA-DNA hybridization (dDDH) revealed that the strains formed two distinct lineages within the genus <i>Vreelandella</i>. Their closest relative was <i>Vreelandella maris</i> QX-1^T, with ANI values of 94.35% (R06ZXJ2^T) and 95.54% (DY715-9^T) and dDDH values of 57.00% and 61.80%, respectively. The pairwise ANI (95.47%) and dDDH (60.70%) between the two novel strains further supported their status as separate species. Phenotypic and chemotaxonomic analyses distinguished them from known <i>Vreelandella</i> species through differences in colony morphology, hydrocarbon degradation profiles and polar lipid compositions. The strains grew optimally at 28 °C and pH 7.0 and can degrade alkanes and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons. Based on these results, we propose two novel species: <i>Vreelandella arctica</i> sp. nov. (type strain R06ZXJ2^T=MCCC 1A08467^T=KCTC 92631^T) and <i>Vreelandella indica</i> sp. nov. (type strain DY715-9^T=MCCC 1A12469^T=KCTC 92628^T).