Klebsiella singaporensis sp. nov., a novel isomaltulose-producing bacterium

Cells of strain LX3(T), isolated from soil, were Gram-negative, facultatively anaerobic, non-motile, capsulated and non-endospore-forming straight rods, able to grow at 10 degrees C, unable to produce gas from lactose at 45 degrees C and unable to produce indole. The isolate converted sucrose to isomaltulose and did not produce detectable glucose by-products. The G+C content of the DNA was 56.4 mol%. Furthermore, comparison of 16S rRNA and rpoB gene sequences showed that the isolate clearly belongs to the genus Klebsiella. The closest phylogenetic relative was Klebsiella pneumoniae, there being 99.3 and 97.5 % similarity in 16S rRNA and rpoB gene sequences, respectively. DNA-DNA hybridization analysis demonstrated a very low level of relatedness to other members of the genus Klebsiella, indicating that the isolated strain and other species in the genus Klebsiella were not related at the species level. The isolate could be differentiated from other previously described members of the genus Klebsiella on the basis of phenotypic differences and 16S rRNA and rpoB gene sequence divergence, together with DNA-DNA reassociation data. Therefore, it is proposed that strain LX3(T) (=DSM 16265(T)=JCM 12419(T)) should be classified as the type strain of a novel species of genus Klebsiella, Klebsiella singaporensis sp. nov.