Sphingomonas liriopis sp. nov., Sphingomonas donggukensis sp. nov., and Sphingomonas tagetis sp. nov., isolated from Liriope platyphylla fruit, soil, and Tagetes patula roots

Three bacterial strains, designated RP10(T), RMG20(T), and MG17(T), were isolated from Liriope platyphylla fruit (strain RP10(T)), soil (RMG20(T)), and Tagetes patula roots (MG17(T)) collected in Goyang, Republic of Korea. The 16S rRNA gene sequences revealed that strains RP10(T), RMG20(T), and MG17(T) were closely related to Sphingomonas melonis DSM 14444 (T) (highest similarity of the strain RP10(T)), Sphingomonas asaccharolytica DSM 10564 (T) (strain RMG20(T)), and Sphingomonas suaedae JCM 33850 (T) (strain MG17(T)) with 98.0-99.0% highest sequence similarity. The 16S rRNA gene sequences similarity between strains RP10(T), RMG20(T), and MG17(T) was 96.6-97.4%. Strains RP10(T), RMG20(T), MG17(,)(T) and the closely related type strains have digital DNA-DNA hybridization and average nucleotide identity values of 19.4-65.3% and 74.0-95.7%, respectively. Based on phylogenetic, biochemical, chemotaxonomic, and phenotypic data, strains RP10(T), RMG20(T), and MG17(T) are considered to represent novel species of the genus Sphingomonas, for which the name Sphingomonas liriopis sp. nov. (type strain RP10(T) = KACC 22357 (T) = TBRC 15161 (T)), Sphingomonas donggukensis sp. nov. (type strain RMG20(T) = KACC 22358 (T) = TBRC 15162 (T)), and Sphingomonas tagetis sp. nov. (type strain MG17(T) = KACC 22355 (T) = TBRC 15160 (T)), are proposed.