Verminephrobacter aporrectodeae sp. nov. subsp. tuberculatae and subsp. caliginosae, the specific nephridial symbionts of the earthworms Aporrectodea tuberculata and A. caliginosa

Antonie van Leeuwenhoek volume 101, pages507–514(2012)Cite this article

Abstract

Clone library-based studies have shown that almost all lumbricid earthworm species harbour host-specific symbiotic bacteria belonging to the novel genus Verminephrobacter in their nephridia (excretory organs). To date the only described representative from this genus is Verminephrobacter eiseniae, the specific symbiont of the earthworm Eisenia fetida. In this study two novel rod-shaped, non-endosporeforming, betaproteobacterial symbionts were isolated from the nephridia of two closely related earthworm species. Both isolates were affiliated with the genus Verminephrobacter by 16S rRNA gene sequence analysis. Similarly to V. eiseniae, the two isolates grew aerobically with a preference for low oxygen concentrations on a range of sugars, fatty acids and amino acids and fermentatively on glucose and pyruvate. These phenotypes match well with the conditions reported or inferred for the nephridial environment. Based on 16S rRNA gene similarity, DNA–DNA hybridization value and phenotypic characteristics the two isolates are clearly distinct from V. eiseniae. Phenotypic characteristics could not clearly differentiate the two strains as separate species but a low DNA–DNA hybridization value of 57.3%, their earthworm host specificity, differing temperature ranges and pH optima suggest that they represent two subspecies of a novel species of Verminephrobacter. For this species, the name V. aporrectodeae sp. nov. is proposed, with the two subspecies V. aporrectodeae subsp. tuberculatae (type strain, At4T = DSM 21361T = LMG 25313T) and V. aporrectodeae subsp. caliginosae (type strain, Ac9T = DSM 21895T = LMG 25312T) isolated from the nephridia of the earthworms Aporrectodea tuberculata and A. caliginosa, respectively.

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Acknowledgments

We thank Tove Wiegers and Britta Poulsen for excellent technical assistance and Rikke Louise Meyer for help with processing oxygen micro profiles. This study was financially supported by the Danish Research Council for Natural Sciences (grant 21-04-0410 to AS, and post-doctoral fellowship grant 272-05-313 to KUK).

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Author notes

  1. Marie B. Lund & Kasper U. Kjeldsen

    Present address: Environmental Earth System Science, Stanford University, 473 Via Ortega, Y2E2 Building, Stanford, CA, 94305-4216, USA

Affiliations

  1. Department of Bioscience, Microbiology, Aarhus University, Ny Munkegade 114, 8000, Aarhus C, Denmark

    Marie B. Lund, Sarah Schätzle & Andreas Schramm

  2. Center for Geomicrobiology, Department of Bioscience, Aarhus University, Ny Munkegade 114, Building 1540, 8000, Aarhus C, Denmark

    Kasper U. Kjeldsen

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  1. Marie B. Lund
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  4. Kasper U. Kjeldsen
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Correspondence to Marie B. Lund.

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Lund, M.B., Schätzle, S., Schramm, A. et al. Verminephrobacter aporrectodeae sp. nov. subsp. tuberculatae and subsp. caliginosae, the specific nephridial symbionts of the earthworms Aporrectodea tuberculata and A. caliginosa . Antonie van Leeuwenhoek 101, 507–514 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10482-011-9659-x

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Keywords

  • Acidovorax
  • Annelida
  • Earthworm
  • Extracellular symbiont
  • Nephridia
  • Symbiosis