Description and genomic insights of Niallia laureatilytica sp. nov., isolated from coastal ecosystem.

A Gram-stain variable, facultative anaerobic, motile, spore forming, rod-shaped bacterium, strain BSM11T, was isolated from coastal sediments near Alang-Sosiya ship-breaking yard, Gujarat, India. The strain was characterized using a polyphasic approach. Colonies were 2-4 mm, irregular, flat, cream-colored, smooth, and opaque. Optimal growth occurred at 30 ℃, pH 8, and without NaCl. On the basis of 16S rRNA gene sequence similarity it is closely related to Niallia taxi (99.1%), N. nealsonii (99%), and N. circulans (98.1%). The cell wall peptidoglycan contained meso-diaminopimelic acid and DL- Lysine dihydrochloride. Dominant fatty acids present in cell are iso- and anteiso-C15:0. The polar lipid profile included phosphatidylethanolamine, phosphatidylglycerol and diphosphatidylglycerol. Strain BSM11T can hydrolyse Tween 20, indicating potential for bioremediation in polluted environments. The genome of strain BSM11T (5.4 Mb, 38.2% G+C) harbours genus-specific indels in GAF domain and DNA ligase D proteins, along with stress tolerance genes conferring resistance to oxidative, osmotic, antibiotic and heavy metal stress. Average nucleotide identity (81.5%) and digital DNA-DNA hybridization (24.2%) values with closest relatives confirm its status as a novel species, for which the name Niallia laureatilytica sp. nov. is proposed, with BSM11T (= JCM 36811T = NCIMB 15532T  = MCC 2433T) as the type strain.