Sphingomonas aquatilis sp nov., Sphingomonas koreensis sp nov and Sphingomonas taejonensis sp nov., yellow-pigmented bacteria isolated from natural mineral water

The taxonomic status of four strains from several mineral water sources in Taejon. Korea, was examined. The DNA base compositions of these strains ranged from 62 to 66 mol%. All of the strains contained sphingolipids and ubiquinone 10 as the main respiratory quinone, The cellular fatty acids of these strains included octadecenoic acid, hexadecanoic acid and 2-hydroxymyristic acid, without 3-hydroxy fatty acids. On the basis of morphological, physiological and chemotaxonomic characteristics. together with 16S rDNA sequence comparison and DNA-DNA reassociation data, three new species of the genus Sphingomonas are proposed for the strains isolated from natural mineral water: Sphingomonas aquatilis sp, nov. for strain JSS7(T) (= KCTC 2881(T) = KCCM 41067(T)), Sphingomonas koreensis sp, nov. for strains JSS26(T) (= KCTC 2882(T)) = KCCM 41069(T) and JSS28 (= KCTC 2883 = KCCM 41068) and Sphingomonas taejonensis sp. nov. for strain JSS54(T) (= KCTC 2884(T) = KCCM 41068(T)).