Leifsonia soli sp. nov., a yellow-pigmented actinobacterium isolated from teak rhizosphere soil

Abstract

Two yellow-pigmented, Gram-stain-positive, aerobic, motile, short rod-shaped bacteria were isolated from natural teak tree rhizosphere soil and their taxonomic positions were determined by using a polyphasic approach. Comparative 16S rRNA gene sequence analysis showed that strains TG-S248T and TG-S240 formed a distinct phyletic line within the genus Leifsonia. 16S rRNA gene sequence analysis of strain TG-S248T with sequences from Leifsonia shinshuensis DB 102T, L. poae VKM Ac-1401T, L. naganoensis DB 103T, L. aquatica DSM 20146T and L. xyli subsp. cynodontis JCM 9733T revealed pairwise similarities ranging from 98.7 to 99.1 %. The major fatty acids were anteiso-C15 : 0, anteiso-C17 : 0 and iso-C16 : 0. The G+C content of the DNA of the type strain was 69.4 mol%. DNA–DNA hybridization experiments revealed low levels of DNA–DNA relatedness (32 % or less) between strain TG-S248T and its closest relatives. Based on differences in phenotypic and genotypic characteristics, strain TG-S248T (=LMG 24767T =JCM 15679T) is designated the type strain of a novel species of the genus Leifsonia, for which the name Leifsonia soli sp. nov. is proposed.