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Abstract
Solar panel surfaces, although subjected to a range of extreme environmental conditions, are inhabited by a diverse microbial community adapted to solar radiation, desiccation and temperature fluctuations. This is the first time a new bacterial species has been isolated from this environment. Strain R4DWNT belongs to the genus Sphingomonas and was isolated from a solar panel surface in Boston, MA, USA. Strain R4DWNT is a Gram-negative, non-motile and rod-shaped bacteria that tested positive for oxidase and catalase and forms round-shaped, shiny and orange-coloured colonies. It is mesophilic, neutrophilic and non-halophilic, and presents a more stenotrophic metabolism than its closest neighbours. The major fatty acids in this strain are C18:1ω7c/C18:1ω6c, C16:1ω7c/C16:1ω6c, C14:0 2OH and C16:0. Comparison of 16S rRNA gene sequences revealed that the closest type strains to R4DWNT are Sphingomonas fennica , Sphingomonas formosensis , Sphingomonas prati , Sphingomonas montana and Sphingomonas oleivorans with 96.3, 96.1, 96.0, 95.9 and 95.7 % pairwise similarity, respectively. The genomic G+C content of R4DWNT is 67.9 mol%. Based on these characteristics, strain R4DWNT represents a novel species of the genus Sphingomonas for which the name Sphingomonas solaris sp. nov. is proposed with the type strain R4DWNT (=CECT 9811T=LMG 31344T).
- Received:
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Funding
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National Science Foundation
(Award CAREER Award (MCB-1350949))
- Principle Award Recipient: Ahmad S. Khalil
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National Institutes of Health
(Award Director’s New Innovator Award (1DP2AI131083-01))
- Principle Award Recipient: Ahmad S. Khalil
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IARPA FELIX
(Award N66001-18-C-4503)
- Principle Award Recipient: Ahmad S. Khalil
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Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency
(Award HR0011-18-2-0014)
- Principle Award Recipient: Ahmad S. Khalil
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Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency
(Award HR0011-15-C-0091)
- Principle Award Recipient: Ahmad S. Khalil
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Ministerio de Ciencia, Innovación y Universidades (Spain), co-financed by FEDER funds
(Award BIO2015-66960-C3-1-R)
- Principle Award Recipient: Juli Peretó
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Ministerio de Ciencia, Innovación y Universidades (Spain)
(Award DI-16-08976)
- Principle Award Recipient: Kristie Tanner
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Real Colegio Complutense
(Award Visiting Research Fellowship)
- Principle Award Recipient: Kristie Tanner