Methylobacterium oxalidis sp nov., isolated from leaves of Oxalis corniculata

A pink-pigmented, facultatively methylotrophic bacterium, strain 35a(T), was isolated from the leaves of Oxalis comiculata. Cells of strain 35a(T) were Gram-reaction-negative, motile, non-spore-forming rods. The highest 16S rRNA gene pairwise sequence similarities for strain 35a(T) were found with the strains of Methylobacterium iners 5317S-33(T) (96.7 %), 'Methylobacterium soil YIM 48816 (96.6%) and Methylobacterium jeotgali S2R03-9(T) (96.3 %). 16S rRNA gene sequence similarities with the type strains of all other recognized species of the genus Methylobacterium were below 96%. Major cellular fatty acids were C-18:1 omega 7c, C-18:0 and C-16:0, The results of DNA-DNA hybridization experiments, analysis of cpn60 gene sequences, fatty acid profiles, whole-cell MALDI-TOF/MS spectral pattern analysis, and physiological and biochemical tests allowed genotypic and phenotypic differentiation of strain 35a(T) from its nearest phylogenetic neighbours. Strain 35a(T) is therefore considered to represent a novel species within the genus Methylobacterium, for which the name Methylobacterium oxalidis sp. nov. is proposed. The type strain is 35a(T) (=DSM 24028(T) = NBRC 107715(T)).