Phenylobacterium montanum sp. nov., an oligotrophic, slightly acidophilic mesophile isolated from sandy soil

A bacterial strain, designated S6T, T , was isolated from the sandy soil on a rocky mountain in South China. Cells of S6T T were Gram- stain- negative, aerobic, non- spore- forming, non- motile and non- prosthecae- producing. 16S rRNA gene sequence analysis revealed the highest similarities to 12 uncultured bacteria, followed by Phenylobacterium sp. B6.10- 61 (97.14 %). The closest related validly published strains are Caulobacter henricii ATCC 15253T T (96.15%), Phenylobacterium conjunctum FWC 21T T (96.08 %) and Caulobacter mirabilis FWC 38T T (96.08 %). Phylogenetic analysis based on 16S rRNA gene, genome and proteome sequences demonstrated that S6T T formed a separated lineage in the genus Phenylobacterium. . Strain S6T T contained Q- 10 (97.5 %) as the major ubiquinone and C 18: 1 omega 7 c and C 16 :0 as the major fatty acids. The polar lipid profile consisted of phosphatidylglycerol, an unknown phosphoglycolipid and three unknown glycolipids. The assembled genome comprises a chromosome with a length of 5.5 Mb and a plasmid of 96 014 bp. The G+C content was 67.6 mol%. The morphological, physiological, chemotaxonomic and phylogenetic analyses clearly distinguished this strain from its closest phylogenetic neighbours. Thus it is proposed that strain S6T T represents a novel species in the genus Phenylobacterium, , for which the name Phenylobacterium montanum sp. nov. is proposed. The type strain is S6T T (=NBRC 115419T=GCMCC T =GCMCC 1.18594T). T ).