Methylobacterium cerastii sp nov., isolated from the leaf surface of Cerastium holosteoides

Two Gram-stain-negative, non-endospore-forming, rod-like strains, designated C15(T) and C44, were isolated from the phyllosphere of Cerastium holosteoides and were studied in detail in order to assess their taxonomic position. 16S rRNA gene sequence analysis allocated both isolates clearly to the genus Methylobacterium. Both strains showed the highest 16S rRNA gene sequence similarity to Methylobacterium marchantiae JT1(T) (97.5%) and Methylobacterium jeotgali S2R03-9(T) (97.4%). The fatty acid profiles contained major amounts of C-16:0, C-18:1 omega 7c and C-16:0 omega 7c/iso-C-15:0 2-OH (summed feature 3), which supported the grouping of the isolates in the genus Methylobacterium. Physiological/biochemical characterization and DNA-DNA hybridizations with the type strains of the most closely related species allowed a clear phenotypic and genotypic differentiation of the strains. For this reason, we propose for strain C15(T) (=DSM 23679(T) =CCUG 60040(T) =CCM 7788(T)) a novel species with the name Methylobacterium cerastii sp. nov. Strain C44 (=DSM 23675 =CCM 7789) is an additional strain of M. cerastii.