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A phylogenetically novel proteobacterium, strain Shr3(T), was isolated from sand gravels collected from the eastern margin of the Sahara Desert. The isolation strategy targeted bacteria filterable through 0.2-mu m-pore-size filters. Strain Shr3(T) was determined to be a Gram-negative, aerobic, non-motile, filamentous bacterium. Oxidase and catalase reactions were positive. Strain Shr3(T) showed growth on R2A medium, but poor or no growth on nutrient agar, trypticase soy agar and standard method agar. The major isoprenoid quinone was menaquinone-7. The dominant cellular fatty acids detected were C-16:1 omega 5c and C-16:0, and the primary hydrov acid present was C-12:0 3-OH. The DNA G + C content was 54.0 mol%. Phylogenetic analysis based on 16S rRNA gene sequences revealed that strain Shr3(T) was affiliated with an uncultivated lineage of the phylum Proteobacteria; the nearest known type strain, with 83% sequence similarity, was

Desulfomicrobium orale DSM 12838(T) in the class Deltaproteobacteria. The isolate and closely related environmental clones formed a novel class-level clade in the phylum Proteobacteria with high bootstrap support (96-99%). Based on these results, the novel class Oligoflexia classis nov. in the phylum Proteobacteria and the novel genus and species Oligoflexus tunisiensis gen. nov., sp. nov. are proposed for strain Shr3(T), the first cultivated representative of the Oligoflexia. The type strain of Oligoflexus tunisiensis is Shr3(T) (=JCM 16864(T)=NCIMB 14846(T)). We also propose the subordinate taxa Oligoflexales ord. nov. and Oligoflexaceae fam. nov. in the class Oligoflexia.