Sphingobacterium pedocola sp. nov. a novel halotolerant bacterium isolated from agricultural soil

A Gram-reaction-negative halotolerant bacterial strain, designated Ka21(T), was isolated from agricultural soil and characterised using a polyphasic approach to determine its taxonomic position. On the basis of 16S rRNA gene sequence analysis, highest similarity was found with Sphingobacterium alkalisoli Y3L14(T) (96.72%). Cells were observed to be aerobic, non-motile rods. The isolate was found to be able to grow between 0 and 10% of NaCl concentration. The assembled genome of strain Ka21(T) has a total length of 5.2 Mb with a G + C content of 41.0 mol%. According to the genome analysis, Ka21(T) encodes several glycoside hydrolases that may play a role in the degradation of accumulated plant biomass in the soil. Based on phenotypic characteristics and phylogenetic analysis, it is concluded that strain Ka21(T) represents a novel species in the Sphingobacterium genus for which the name Sphingobacterium pedocola sp. nov. is proposed. The type strain of the species is strain Ka21(T) (= LMG 31575(T) = NCAIM B.02636(T)).

Automated summary

The halotolerant bacterial strain Ka21(T) isolated from agricultural soil shows high similarity with Sphingobacterium alkalisoli Y3L14(T) based on 16S rRNA gene sequence analysis. It is capable of growing between 0 and 10% NaCl concentration and encodes glycoside hydrolases that may be involved in the degradation of plant biomass in soil, as revealed by genome analysis.