Acinetobacter zhairhuonensis sp. nov., isolated from sediments of the East China Sea

A novel aerobic bacterial strain, designated as <i>Acinetobacter zhairhuonensis</i> sp. nov. A7.4^T, was isolated from East China Sea sediments near Zhairuo island. Cells were Gram-stain-negative, non-motile short rods, forming milky, moist colonies. Growth occurred at 10-35 °C, pH 6.0-9.0 and 0-5% NaCl concentrations (w/v). Strain A7.4^T was catalase-positive and oxidase-negative. Major fatty acids (>10%) included summed feature 3 (C_16:1 ω7c/C_{16 :1} ω6c), C_18:1 ω9c and C_16:0. The polar lipid profile comprised diphosphatidylglycerol, phosphatidylglycerol, phosphatidylethanolamine, two phospholipids and two aminolipids. Ubiquinone Q-9 and Q-8 predominated. The genome (3.57 Mb, 41.3 mol% GC) included one chromosome and a plasmid. The core-genome phylogeny placed A7.4^T within <i>Acinetobacter</i>, forming a distinct clade with <i>Acinetobacter kanungonis</i> PS-1^T, <i>Acinetobacter tibetensis</i> Y-23^T and <i>Acinetobacter tandoii</i> CIP107469^T. Average nucleotide identity (ANI), average amino acid identity (AAI) and digital DNA-DNA hybridization (dDDH) values between strain A7.4^T and 87 validly published <i>Acinetobacter</i> species were below species thresholds (96% ANI/AAI, 70% dDDH). Phenotypic, genomic and chemotaxonomic data support the proposal of <i>Acinetobacter zhairhuonensis</i> sp. nov., with type strain A7.4^T (=MCCC 1K07162^T=LMG 32567^T).