Flavobacterium phragmitis sp nov., an endophyte of reed (Phragmites australis)

A Gram-staining-negative bacterium, designated strain BLN2(T), was isolated from within the roots of reeds (Phragmites australis) in Beijing Cuihu Wetland (China) and characterized using a polyphasic taxonomic approach. The cells were yellow-pigmented, rod-shaped, strictly aerobic and devoid of flagella, but showed gliding motility. Strain BLN2(T) produced yellow, translucent, circular and convex colonies, with optimal growth at 30 degrees C and pH 7.0. The major respiratory quinone was menaquinone 6 (MK-6) and the predominant fatty acids were iso-C-15:0, summed feature 3 (comprising C-16:1 omega 7c and/or C-16:1 omega 6c, C-16:0 3-OH, C-16:0, iSO-C-17:0 3-OH and iso-C-15:0 3-OH. The G+C content of the genomic DNA was 34.8 mol%. The 16S rRNA gene sequence analysis showed that strain BLN2(T) belonged to the genus Flavobacterium and was most closely related to Flavobacterium anhuiense CGMCC 1.6859(T) (97.0% sequence similarity). The DNA DNA relatedness between strain BLN2(T) and F. anhuiense CGMCC 1.6859(T) was 25.7%. Based on the phenotypic data and phylogenetic inference presented, it is concluded that strain BLN2(T) represents a novel species within the genus Flavobacterium, for which the name Flavobacterium phragmitis sp. nov. is proposed. The type strain is BLN2(T) (=DSM 23314(T)=CGMCC 1.10370(T)).