Pleomorphomonas oryzae gen. nov., sp. nov., a nitrogen-fixing bacterium isolated from paddy soil of Oryza sativa

Abstract

Five strains of free-living diazotrophs isolated from rice were characterized by using a polyphasic approach. The strains were found to be very closely related, with 99–100 % 16S rRNA gene sequence similarity and DNA–DNA hybridization values greater than 70 %, suggesting that they represent a single species. When compared with other recognized species, they showed not more than 93 and 89 % similarity for the 16S rRNA and nifH gene sequences, respectively. Phylogenetic distances showed that these isolates were distinct from other taxa within the α-Proteobacteria. Chemotaxonomic characteristics of these isolates included the DNA G+C content (62·1–63·1 mol%), the major quinone system (Q-10), predominant fatty acids (18 : 1ω7c, cyclo 19 : 0ω8c and 16 : 0) and major hydroxy fatty acids (14 : 0 3-OH, 18 : 0 3-OH and 16 : 0 3-OH). Based on phylogenetic and phenotypic analyses, these isolates are considered to represent a novel genus and species, for which the name Pleomorphomonas oryzae gen. nov., sp. nov. is proposed. The type strain is F-7T (=IAM 15079T=ATCC BAA-940T=DSM 16300T).