Variovorax soli sp. nov., isolated from greenhouse soil

A Gram-negative, rod-shaped, non-spore-forming bacterium, strain GH9-3(T), isolated from greenhouse soil, was investigated in a polyphasic study. The novel organism grew at 10-35 degrees C, 0-3 % NaCl and pH 5-9. It had ubiquinone 8 (Q-8) as the predominant isoprenoid quinone and possessed C(16 : 0), summed feature 3, C(17 : 0) cyclo and C(18 : 1) omega7c as the major fatty acids (together representing 87.4 % of the total). The DNA G+C content was 67.1 mol%. 16S rRNA gene sequence analysis of strain GH9-3(T) showed that it grouped within the Variovorax cluster, with highest sequence similarities to Variovorax paradoxus IAM 12373(T) (98.3 %) and Variovorax dokdonensis DS-43(T) (98.0 %). DNA-DNA hybridization values between strain GH9-3(T) and V. paradoxus DSM 30034(T) and V. dokdonensis DS-43(T) were 38 and 29 %, respectively. Based on phenotypic, chemotaxonomic and phylogenetic features, it is proposed that strain GH9-3(T) represents a novel species of the genus Variovorax with the name Variovorax soli sp. nov. The type strain is GH9-3(T) (=KACC 11579(T)=DSM 18216(T)).