Hymenobacter endophyticus sp. nov., isolated from wheat leaf tissue

A bacterium, designated strain ZK17L-C2^T, was isolated from the leaf tissues of wheat (Triticum aestivum) collected in Chengdu, Sichuan Province, PR China. It is aerobic, non-motile, Gram-negative, rod-shaped and red-to-pink in colour. Phylogenetic analysis based on 16S rRNA gene sequences showed that strain ZK17L-C2^T belonged to the genus Hymenobacter and was most closely related to Hymenobacter rigui KCTC 12533^T (98.68 %) and Hymenobacter metallilatus 9PBR-2^T (98.19 %). Digital DNA-DNA hybridization (dDDH) values between strain ZK17L-C2^T and these two type strains were 26.6 and 26.5 %, and average nucleotide identity (ANI) values were 84.9 and 84.8 %, respectively; these values are lower than the proposed and generally accepted species boundaries for dDDH and ANI. The genomic DNA G+C content of strain ZK17L-C2^T was 59.4 mol%. It can grow at pH 5.5-7.5 and 15-30 °C, which is different from the closely related type strains. The major fatty acids of strain ZK17L-C2^T were iso-C_15 : 0, C_16 : 0 and C_18 : 0. Overall, the results from biochemical, chemical taxonomy and phylogenetic analyses indicate that strain ZK17L-C2^T (=CGMCC 1.19373^T=KCTC 92184 ^T) represents a new species of the genus Hymenobacter, for which the name Hymenobacter endophyticus sp. nov. is proposed.