Mucilaginibacter koreensis sp. nov., isolated from leaf mould

A Gram-staining-negative, strictly aerobic, rod-shaped, pale-pink pigmented bacterial strain, designated TF8(T), was isolated from leaf mould in Cheonan, Republic of Korea. Its taxonomic position was determined through a polyphasic approach. Optimal growth occurred on R2A agar without NaCl supplementation, at 25-28 °C and at pH 6.0-7.0. Phylogenetic analysis based on 16S rRNA gene sequences showed that strain TF8(T) belongs to the genus Mucilaginibacter in the family Sphingobacteriaceae. The sequence similarity between 16S rRNA genes of strain TF8(T) and the type strains of other species of the genus Mucilaginibacter ranged from 92.1 to 94.7%. The closest relatives of strain TF8(T) were Mucilaginibacter lutimaris BR-3(T) (94.7%), M. soli R9-65(T) (94.5%), M. litoreus BR-18(T) (94.5%), M. rigui WPCB133(T) (94.0%) and M. daejeonensis Jip 10(T) (93.8%). The major isoprenoid quinone was MK-7 and the major cellular fatty acids were iso-C15 : 0 (33.0%), summed feature 3 (C16 : 1ω7c and/or C16 : 1ω6c; 24.8%) and summed feature 8 (C18 : 1ω7c and/or C18 : 1ω6c; 13.0%). The major polar lipids of TF8(T) were phosphatidylethanolamine and three unidentified aminophospholipids. The G+C content of the genomic DNA was 46.2 mol%. On the basis of the data presented here, strain TF8(T) is considered to represent a novel species of the genus Mucilaginibacter, for which the name Mucilaginibacter koreensis sp. nov. is proposed. The type strain is TF8(T) ( = KACC 17468(T) = JCM 19323(T)).