Flavobacterium xueshanense sp. nov. and Flavobacterium urumqiense sp. nov., two psychrophilic bacteria isolated from glacier ice.

Two Gram-stain-negative, rod-shaped bacteria, designated strains Sr22(T) and Sr25(T), were isolated from water of melted ice from the China No.1 glacier, Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, China. Cells formed yellow, circular, convex colonies. 16S rRNA gene sequence analysis indicated that strains Sr22(T) and Sr25(T) belong to the genus Flavobacterium, sharing ≤99.1  and ≤99.6 % similarity, respectively, with the type strains of recognized species of the genus. Strain Sr22(T) shared highest 16S rRNA gene sequence similarity with Flavobacterium tiangeerense CGMCC 1.6847(T) (98.6 %), Flavobacterium fryxellicola LMG 22022(T) (98.1 %) and Flavobacterium omnivorum CGMCC 1.2747(T) (99.1 %). Strain Sr25(T) shared highest similarity with Flavobacterium sinopsychrotolerans CGMCC 1.8704(T) (98.5 %), Flavobacterium degerlachei NBRC 102677(T) (98.4 %) and Flavobacterium xinjiangense CGMCC 1.2749(T) (99.5 %). The predominant fatty acids of strain Sr22(T) were iso-C(15 : 1) G (6.01 %), iso-C(15 : 0) (8.93 %), iso-C(16 : 1) H (12.68 %), iso-C(16 : 0) (10.4 %), C(15 : 1)ω6c (8.97 %), C(17 : 1)ω6c (5.96 %), iso-C(16 : 0) 3-OH (11.14 %) and summed feature 3 (comprising C(16 : 1)ω7c and/or C(16 : 1)ω6c, 12.33 %). The major fatty acids of strain Sr25(T) were iso-C(15 : 0) (10.8 %), anteiso-C(15 : 0) (5.23 %), C(15 : 1)ω6c (11.79 %), C(17 : 1)ω6c (5.43 %), iso-C(16 : 0) 3-OH (7.04 %) and summed feature 3 (20.42 %). The genomic DNA G+C contents of strains Sr22(T) and Sr25(T) were 37.2 and 35.1 mol%. On the basis of differential phenotypic and phylogenetic characteristics, these strains are considered to represent two novel species of the genus Flavobacterium, for which the names Flavobacterium xueshanense sp. nov. (type strain Sr22(T)  = CGMCC 1.9227(T)  = NBRC 106479(T)) and Flavobacterium urumqiense sp. nov. (type strain Sr25(T)  = CGMCC 1.9230(T)  = NBRC 106480(T)) are proposed.