Phyllobacterium phragmitis sp. nov., an endophytic bacterium isolated from Phragmites australis rhizome in Kumtag Desert

A Gram-negative rod, designated strain 1N-3(T), was isolated from a rhizome of Phragmites australis grown in Kumtag Desert, China. Phylogenetic analysis showed that the strain is closely related to Phyllobacterium salinisoli LMG 30173(T) with 99.0% sequence similarity in the 16S rRNA gene and 92.9% in the atpD gene. Growth was observed at salinities of 0-4% (w/v), over a pH range of 5.0-10.0 (optimum 8.0) and at temperatures of 15-40 degrees C (optimum 30 degrees C). The predominant cellular fatty acids were identified as summed feature 8 (C-18:1 omega 7c/C-18:1 omega 6c). The G+C content of strain 1N-3(T) was determined to be 60.1%. Based on phenotypic, chemotaxonomic, phylogenetic properties and genomic comparison, it is concluded that strain 1N-3(T) represents a novel species of the genus Phyllobacterium, for which the name Phyllobacterium phragmitis sp. nov. is proposed. The type strain is 1N-3(T) (=KCTC 62183(T) =ACCC 60071(T)).