A novel acidobacterial strain, Sakura1(T), was isolated from pieces of cherry bark. Cells of strain Sakura1(T) were non-motile, rod-shaped and stained Gram-negative. This strictly aerobic isolate was mesophilic but was able to grow at temperatures as low as 10 °C. Colonies were pink due to production of carotenoids, and its pigmentation was more pronounced in cells grown at lower temperature. This strain had endoglucanase activity. The main respiratory quinone was menaquinone-8, and major cellular fatty acids were iso-C(15 : 0), C(16 : 1)ω7c and C(16 : 0). Phylogenetic analysis of 16S rRNA gene sequences revealed that the strain was closely related to species of the genus Granulicella in subdivision 1 of the phylum Acidobacteria. The closest relative was Granulicella paludicola OB1010(T) (97.1% 16S rRNA gene sequence similarity). While common characteristics were found among the isolate and species of the genus Granulicella, there were obvious differences between them such as their cell morphology, cellulolytic activity, and tolerance to low temperature and NaCl concentration. Based on phylogenetic and phenotypic findings, a novel species is proposed in the genus Granulicella with the name Granulicella cerasi sp. nov. The type strain is Sakura1(T) ( = NBRC 107139(T) = DSM 23641(T)).
© 2014 IUMS.