Leifsonia ginsengi sp nov., isolated from ginseng root

A Gram-positive, rod-shaped, non-motile bacterium, designated strain wged11(T), was isolated from the root of ginseng, and its taxonomic position was established using a polyphasic approach. Phylogenetic analysis based on 1 6S rRNA gene sequences showed that this organism formed a robust clade with recognized species of the genus Leifsonia. Strain wged11(T) was characterized by a high content of omega-cyclohexylundecanoic and anteiso- and iso-branched saturated fatty acids, MK-11(T) as the major menaquinone and DL-2,4-diaminobutyric acid in its cell-wall pepticloglycan. The DNA G + C content of strain wged11(T) was 66.4 mol%. Levels of similarity between the 1 6S rRNA gene sequence of strain wged11(T) and those of the type strains of other members of the genus Leifsonia ranged from 94.7 to 97.6 %. The mean level of DNA-DNA relatedness between strain wged11(T) and Leifsonia poae DSM 15202 T, its nearest phylogenetic neighbour, was 35.3 %. Based on these findings, strain wged11(T) (=CGMCC 4.349 (T)=JCM 13908 (T)) is proposed as the type strain of a novel species of the genus Leifsonia, Leifsonia ginsengi sp. nov.