Pseudomonas helmanticensis sp nov., isolated from forest soil

A bacterial strain, OHA11(T), was isolated during the course of a study of phosphate-solubilizing bacteria occurring in a forest soil from Salamanca, Spain. The 16S rRNA gene sequence of strain OHA11(T) shared 99.1 % similarity with respect to Pseudomonas baetica a390(T), and 98.9% similarity with the type strains of Pseudomonas jessenii, Pseudomonas moorei, Pseudomonas umsongensis, Pseudomonas mohnii and Pseudomonas koreensis. The analysis of housekeeping genes rpoB, rpoD and gyrB confirmed its phylogenetic affiliation to the genus Pseudomonas and showed similarities lower than 95% in almost all cases with respect to the above species. Cells possessed two polar flagella. The respiratory quinone was Q9. The major fatty acids were C-16:0, C-18:1 omega 7c and summed feature 3 (C-16:1 omega 7c/iso-C-15:0 2-OH). The strain was oxidase-, catalase- and urease-positive, positive for arginine dihydrolase but negative for nitrate reduction, beta-galactosidase production and aesculin hydrolysis. It was able to grow at 31 degrees C and at pH 11. The DNA G+C content was 58.1 mol%. DNA-DNA hybridization results showed values lower than 49 % relatedness with respect to the type strains of the seven closest related species. Therefore, the combined genotypic, phenotypic and chemotaxonomic data support the classification of strain OHA11(T) to a novel species of the genus Pseudomonas, for which the name Pseudomonas helmanticensis sp. nov. is proposed. The type strain is OHA11(T) (=LMG 28168(T)=CECT 8548(T)).