Fimbriiglobus ruber gen. nov., sp. nov., a Gemmata-like planctomycete from Sphagnum peat bog and the proposal of Gemmataceae fam. nov

An aerobic, budding, dark pink to red-pigmented bacterium was isolated from an acidic boreal Sphagnum peat bog and designated strain SP5^T. Cells of this strain were non-motile spheres that were uniformly covered with crateriform pits and fimbria, and tended to form aggregates during growth in liquid media. Strain SP5^T was capable of growth between pH 4.0 and pH 6.8 (optimum at pH 5.5–6.0) and at temperatures between 10 and 30 °C (optimum at 20–25 °C). The preferred growth substrates were sugars and some heteropolysaccharides. The major fatty acids were C_20 : 1 ω9c, C_16 : 1 ω9c and C_16 : 0, and the major polar lipid was trimethylornithine. Cells contained also significant amounts of bound (ω-1)OH-C_30 : 1 fatty acid. The quinone was menaquinone-6, and the G+C content of the DNA was 60.7 mol%. Strain SP5^T was a member of the order Planctomycetales and belonged to the phylogenetic lineage defined by the genus Gemmata. It displayed 88 and 89 % 16S rRNA gene sequence similarity to Gemmata obscuriglobusUQM 2246^T and ‘ Gemmata massiliana’ IIL30, 89 % to Zavarzinella formosa A10^T and 86 % to Telmatocola sphagniphila SP2^T. However, strain SP5^T differed from members of these genera by cell morphology, substrate utilization pattern and fatty acid composition. Based on these data, the novel isolate should be considered as representing a novel species of a new genus of planctomycetes, for which the name Fimbriiglobus ruber gen. nov., sp. nov, is proposed. The type strain is SP5^T (=LMG 29572^T=VKM B-3045^T). We also suggest the establishment of a novel family, Gemmataceaefam. nov., which includes the phylogenetically related genera Gemmata, Zavarzinella, Telmatocola and Fimbriiglobus.