Paenibacillus woosongensis sp nov., a xylanolytic bacterium isolated from forest soil

A novel xylan-degrading bacterium, YB-45(T), was isolated from forest soil. The organism is a facultatively anaerobic, Gram-variable, motile, endospore-forming, rod-shaped bacterium. It grew optimally at 37 degrees C and pH 7.5 in the presence of 3% (w/v) NaCl. The predominant cellular fatty acids were anteiso-C-15:0, iso-C-15:0 and C-16:0. The DNA G+C content was 51.7 mol% and the predominant menaquinone was MK-7. Growth was observed with many carbohydrates, including xylan, as sole carbon sources. Strain YB-45(T) produces a wide variety of hydrolytic enzymes, such as xylanase, cellulase, amylase, beta-mannanase, beta-mannosidase, beta-xylosidase, alpha-galactosidase, beta-galactosidase and beta-glucosidase. Phylogenetic analyses based on 16S rRNA gene sequences showed that strain YB-45(T) belongs to the genus Paenibacillus, sharing sequence similarity that was <96%. It was related most closely to Paenibacillus jamilae DSM 13815(T), with 95.7% sequence similarity. On the basis of morphological, chemotaxonomic, physiological and phylogenetic properties, strain YB-45(T) represents a novel species of the genus Paenibacillus, for which the name Paenibacillus woosongensis sp. nov. is proposed. The type strain is YB-45(T) (=KCTC 3953(T) = IDSM 16971(T)).