Pedobacter ginsengisoli sp nov., a DNase-producing bacterium isolated from soil of a ginseng field in South Korea

A Gram-negative, strictly aerobic, rod-shaped, non-motile, non-spore-forming bacterial strain, designated Gsoil 104(T), was isolated from a soil sample from a ginseng field in Pocheon Province (South Korea) and was characterized taxonomically by using a polyphasic approach. On the basis of 16S rRNA gene sequence similarities, strain Gsoil 104(T) was shown to belong to the family Sphingobacteriaceae, being related to Pedobacter africanus DSM 12126(T) (97.0%), Pedobacter caeni LMG 22862(T) (96.9%), Pedobacter cryoconitis DSM 14825(T) (96.8%) and Pedobacter heparinus DSM 2366(T) (96.6%). The phylogenetic; distance from any other Pedobacter species with a validly published name was greater than 3.4% (i.e. < 96.6% 16S rRNA gene sequence similarity). DNA-DNA hybridization experiments showed that values for DNA-DNA relatedness between strain Gsoil 104(T) and its phylogenetically closest neighbours were below 37%. The G + C content of the genomic DNA was 43.6 mol%. The predominant respiratory quinone was MK-7. The major fatty acids were C-16:1 omega 7c, iso-C-15:0, C-16:0, iso-C-17:0 3-OH and iso-C-15:0 2-OH. These chemotaxonomic data support the affiliation of strain Gsoil 104(T) to the genus Pedobacter. On the basis of its phenotypic properties and phylogenetic distinctiveness, strain Gsoil 104(T) represents a novel species in the genus Pedobacter, for which the name Pedobacter ginsengisoli sp. nov. is proposed. The type strain is Gsoil 104(T) (= KCTC 12576(T) = LMG 23399(T)).