Pedobacter zeae sp nov., an endophytic bacterium isolated from maize root

A novel Gram-staining-negative, aerobic, non-motile by gliding and rod-shaped strain, designated 22(T), was isolated from surface-sterilized root tissue of maize planted in the Fangshan District of Beijing, PR China. The highest levels of 16S rRNA gene sequence similarity were found with respect to Pedobacter suwonensis 15-52(T) (97.5 %), Pedobacter terrae DS-57(T) (97.1 %) and Pedobacter alluvionis NWER-II11(T) (97.0 %). Phylogenetic analysis based on 16S rRNA gene sequence data indicated that strain 22(T) is a member of the genus Pedobacter. The isolate exhibited relatively low levels of DNA-DNA relatedness with respect to P. suwonensis DSM 18130(T) (21.3 +/- 2.0 %), P. alluvionis DSM 19624(T) (38.1 +/- 1.8 %) and P. terrae DSM 17933 T (17.1 +/- 1.4 %). The DNA G+C content was 41.2 +/- 0.5 mol%. The major isoprenoid quinone was menaquinone-7 (MK-7). The major component in the polyamine pattern was sym-homospermidine. The major polar lipids consisted of phosphatidylethanolamine, three unidentified aminolipids and one unidentified lipid. The major fatty acids were identified as iso-C-15 : (0) and summed feature 3 (C-16 : 1 omega 7c and/or C-16 : 1 omega 6c). The results of the physiological and biochemical tests and minor differences in the fatty acid profiles allowed a clear phenotypic differentiation of strain 22(T) from the related species with high 16S rRNA gene sequence similarity, P. suwonensis DSM 18130(T), P. alluvionis DSM 19624(T) and P. terrae DSM 17933(T). Strain 22(T) represents a novel species within the genus Pedobacter, for which the name Pedobacter zeae sp. nov. is proposed, with the type strain 22(T) (= CGMCC 1.15287(T)=DSM 100774(T)).