Pedobacter solisilvae sp nov., isolated from forest soil

The bacteria strain EN12(T) was isolated from forest soil in the Republic of Korea. The cells were Gram-negative, non-motile and rod-shaped, and the strain was strictly aerobic. Phylogenetic analysis of its 16S rRNA gene sequences showed that strain EN12(T) belonged to the class Sphingobacteriia of the phylum Bacteroidetes, and its closest relative is Pedobacter namyangjuensis 5G38(T), with a sequence similarity of 95.5%. The average DNA sequence similarity from validly described species within the genus Pedobacter was 92.5 +/- 1.3 %. Chemotaxonomic data including major ubiquinones (menaquinone-7), polar lipids ( phosphatidylethanolamine and sphingolipid) and fatty acids (iso-C-15:0, iso-C-17:0 3-OH, and C-16:1 omega 6c/C-16:(1)omega 7c) also supported an affiliation of strain EN12(T) with the genus Pedobacter. Genotypic and phenotypic differentiation of strain EN12(T) from six published Pedobacter species was revealed through DNA-DNA relatedness and physiological/biochemical tests. Results of these phenotypic, phylogenetic and chemotaxonomic analyses indicated that strain EN12(T) is a novel species in the genus Pedobacter, for which we propose the name Pedobacter solisilvae sp. nov. (=KCTC 42612(T) =LMG 28820(T)).