Paenibacillus allorhizosphaerae sp. nov., from soil of the rhizosphere of Zea mays

A Gram-stain-positive, aerobic, endospore-forming bacterial strain, isolated from the rhizosphere of Zea mays, was studied for its detailed taxonomic allocation. Based on 16S rRNA gene sequence similarity comparisons, strain JJ-447(T) was shown to be a member of the genus Paenibacillus, most closely related to the type strain of Paenibacillus solanacearum (97.8 %). The 16S rRNA gene sequence similarity values to all other Paenibacillus species were below 97.0 %. DNA-DNA hybridization (DDH) values with the type strain of P. solanacearum were 35.9 % (reciprocal 27%), respectively. The average nucleotide identity and in silico DDH values with the type strain of P. solanacearum were 84.86 and 28.9 %, respectively. The quinone system of strain JJ-447(T) consisted exclusively of menaquinones and the major component was MK-7 (96.4 %) but minor amounts of MK-6 (3.6 %) were detected as well. The polar lipid profile consisted of the major components diphosphatidylglycerol, phosphatidylethanolamine, phosphatidylglycerol and an unidentified aminolipid. Major fatty acids were iso-and anteiso-branched with the major compounds anteiso-C-15:0 and iso-C-15:0. Physiological and biochemical characteristics allowed a further phenotypic differentiation of strain JJ-447(T) from the most closely related species on the basis of D-glucose, L-arabinose and D-mannose assimilation and other physiological tests. Thus, JJ-447(T) represents a novel species of the genus Paenibacillus, for which the name Paenibacillus allorhizosphaerae sp. nov. is proposed, with JJ-447(T) (=LMG 31601(T)=CCM 9021(T)=CIP 111802(T)) as the type strain.