Mesorhizobium alhagi sp nov., isolated from wild Alhagi sparsifolia in north-western China

Eleven strains that formed symbiotic root nodules on Alhagi sparsifolia, designated previously as genospecies II, were identified as a new lineage of Mesorhizobium (Alphaproteobacteria) that could be differentiated from all previously recognized species of the genus Mesorhizobium by using 16S rRNA gene sequences (<97.8% similarity), DNA DNA hybridization (<45%), dnaJ, dnaK, recA, glnA, nifH, nodA and nodC gene sequences, fatty acid profiles (C-18:1 omega 07c, 35 %; 11-methyl C-18.1 omega 7c, 30%) and numerical taxonomy. These strains are therefore considered to represent a novel species, for which the name Mesorhizobium alhagi sp. nov. is proposed, with isolate CCNWXJ12-2(T) (=ACCC 15461(T)=HAMBI 3019(T)) as the type strain.