Syntrophotalea acetylenivorans sp. nov., a diazotrophic, acetylenotrophic anaerobe isolated from intertidal sediments

A Gram-stain-negative, strictly anaerobic, non-motile, rod-shaped bacterium, designated SFB93^T, was isolated from the intertidal sediments of South San Francisco Bay, located near Palo Alto, CA, USA. SFB93^T was capable of acetylenotrophic and diazotrophic growth, grew at 22–37 °C, pH 6.3–8.5 and in the presence of 10–45 g l⁻¹ NaCl. Phylogenetic analyses based on 16S rRNA gene sequencing showed that SFB93^T represented a member of the genus Syntrophotalea with highest 16S rRNA gene sequence similarities to Syntrophotalea acetylenica DSM 3246^T (96.6 %), Syntrophotalea carbinolica DSM 2380^T (96.5 %), and Syntrophotalea venetiana DSM 2394^T (96.7 %). Genome sequencing revealed a genome size of 3.22 Mbp and a DNA G+C content of 53.4 %. SFB93^T had low genome-wide average nucleotide identity (81–87.5 %) and