Sphingobacterium shayense sp. nov., isolated from forest soil

A Gram-staining-negative, yellow-coloured, strictly aerobic, non-spore-forming, rod-shaped bacterium, designated HS39(T), isolated from a soil sample collected from a natural Populus euphratica forest in Xinjiang, China, was characterized using a polyphasic approach. The isolate grew optimally at 30-37 degrees C, at pH 6.5-8.0 and with 0-3% NaCl. Analysis of the 16S RNA gene sequence of strain HS39(T) revealed that it is a member of the genus Sphingobacterium. Sphingobacterium mizutaii ATCC 33299(T) was the nearest relative (94.0% 16S rRNA gene sequence similarity). The G+C content of the genomic DNA was 40.2 mol%. The major fatty acids were iso-C(15:0), iso-C(17:0) 3-OH and summed feature 3 (comprising C(16:1)omega 6c and/or C(16:1)omega 7c). The predominant isoprenoid quinone was MK-7. On the basis of phenotypic properties and phylogenetic inference, strain HS39(T) represents a novel species of the genus Sphingobacterium, for which the name Sphingobacterium shayense sp. nov. is proposed. The type strain is HS39(T) (=CCTCC AB 209006(T) =NRRL B-59203(T)).