Sphingobacterium hungaricum sp. nov. a novel species on the borderline of the genus Sphingobacterium

A Gram- reaction-negative bacterial strain, designated Kb22(T), was isolated from agricultural soil and characterized using a polyphasic approach to determine its taxonomic position. On the basis of 16S rRNA gene sequence analysis, the strain shows highest similarity (94.39 %) to Sphingobacterium nematocida M-SX103(T). The highest average nucleotide identity value (71.83 %) was found with Sphingobacterium composti T5-12(T), and the highest amino acid identity value (66.65 %) was found with Sphin-gobacterium olei HAL-9(T). Cells are aerobic, non-motile rods. The isolate was found to be positive for catalase and oxidase tests. The assembled genome of strain Kb22(T) has a total length of 4,06 Mb, the DNA G+C content is 38.1 mol%. The only isoprenoid quinone is menaquinone 7 (MK -7). The major fatty acids are iso-C-15:0 (28.4%), summed feature 3 (C-16:1 omega 7c and/or iso-C-15:0 2-OH) (25.7 %) and iso-C-17:0 3 -OH (19.7 %). Based on phenotypic characteristics and phylogenetic results, it is concluded that strain Kb22(T) is a member of the genus Sphingobacterium and represents a novel species for which the name Sphingobacterium hun-garicum sp. nov. is proposed. The type strain of the species is strain Kb22T (=LMG 31574T=NCAIM B.02638(T)).

Automated summary

A novel bacterial strain belonging to the genus Sphingobacterium, named Sphingobacterium hungaricum sp. nov., was isolated from agricultural soil. The strain exhibits specific phenotypic and biochemical characteristics, including aerobic, non-motile rod-shaped cells and positive reactions for catalase and oxidase tests.