Flavobacterium ginsengiterrae sp. nov., isolated from a ginseng field

Abstract

A novel strain of Flavobacterium, DCY55^T, a Gram-negative, yellow-pigmented, rod-shaped, non-spore-forming and gliding-motile bacterium, was isolated from the soil of a ginseng field in South Korea. Phylogenetic analysis, based on the 16S rRNA sequence, demonstrated that strain DCY55^T belongs to the genus Flavobacterium within the family Flavobacteriaceae. Strain DCY55^T showed the highest similarity with F. johnsoniae UW101^T (97.1%), F. ginsenosidimutans THG 01^T (96.8%), F. defluvii EMB 117^T (96.6%), F. banpakuense 15F3^T (96.3%) and F. anhuiense D3^T (95.8%). Chemotaxonomic results showed that strain DCY55^T predominantly contains menaquinone MK-6, that its DNA G+C content is 36.1mol%, and that its major cellular fatty acids are iso-C_15:0, summed feature 3 (comprising iso-C_15:0 2-OH and/or C_16:1 ω 7c) and C_16:0. The chemotaxonomic and genotypic characteristics support the taxonomic classification of strain DCY55^T to the genus Flavobacterium. The results of physiological and biochemical tests confirmed that strain DCY55^T is distinct from previously validated species. We conclude that strain DCY55^T should be classified as a novel species of the genus Flavobacterium, for which the name Flavobacterium ginsengiterrae sp. nov. is proposed, with the type strain DCY55^T (=KCTC 23319^T = JCM 17337^T).