Pantoea tagorei sp. nov., a Rhizospheric Bacteria with Plant Growth-Promoting Activities

A Gram-negative, short-rod, non-motile, facultatively anaerobic, potassium-solubilizing bacterium MR1 (Mine Rhizosphere) was isolated from rhizospheric soil of an open-cast coal mine of Jharia, Jharkhand, India. Isolate MR1 can grow in a broad range of temperature, pH, and NaCl concentrations. The 16S rRNA gene sequence of the strain showed 99.24% similarity with Pantoea septica LMG 5345^T. However, maximum-likelihood tree constructed using 16S rRNA gene sequence, multilocus sequence analysis using concatenated sequences of ten housekeeping genes, whole-genome based phylogenetic reconstruction, digital DNA-DNA hybridization, and average nucleotide identity (ANIm and ANIb) values indicated segregation of MR1 from its closest relatives. Fatty acid profile of MR1 also suggested the same, with clear variation in major and minor fatty acid contents, having C_13:0 anteiso (10-Methyldodecanoic acid) as the unique one. Thus, considering all polyphasic data, strain MR1^T (= MTCC 13265^T, where 'T' stands for Type strain) is presented as a novel species of the genus Pantoea, for which the name Pantoea tagorei sp. nov. is proposed.

The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s12088-023-01147-9.