Edaphocola flava sp. nov., Isolated from Herbicide Bensulfuron-methyl-Contaminated Soil

A novel strain, HME-24^T, was isolated from herbicide bensulfuron-methyl-contaminated soil in Jiangning District, Jiangsu Province, China. Strain HME-24^T was a Gram-stain-negative, strictly aerobic, non-motile and rod-shaped bacterium, and the colonies on R2A agar are yellow. The strain was non-sporulating, catalase- and oxidase-positive. Cells growth occurred at 15-37 °C (optimum, 30 °C), at pH 6.0-8.0 (optimum, 7.0) and with 0-1.5% (w/v) NaCl (optimum, 0.5% NaCl). Strain HME-24^T showed the highest 16S rRNA gene sequence identity to Edaphocola aurantiacus H2^T (99.58%), followed by Taibaiella chishuiensis AY17^T (94.02%). The sole respiratory quinone was Menaquinone-7 (MK-7), the major polar lipids of strain HME-24^T were two unidentified lipids, two unidentified aminolipids, an unidentified glycolipid and phosphatidylethanolamine, and the major fatty acids were iso-C_15:0, iso-C_15:1 G and iso-C_17:0 3-OH. The genomic DNA G+C content values based on total genome sequences of strain HME-24^T and H2^T were 43.6 mol% and 43.8 mol%, respectively. Average nucleotide identity (ANI) for draft genomes between strain HME-24^T and H2^T was 94.8%, and the digital DNA-DNA hybridization (dDDH) for draft genomes between strain HME-24^T and H2^T was 59.2%. On the basis of phenotypic, genotypic and phylogenetic analysis, strain HME-24^T represents a novel species of the genus Edaphocola, with the name Edaphocola flava sp. nov. being proposed. The type strain of Edaphocola flava is HME-24^T (= KCTC 62977^T = CGMCC 1.13935^T).