Variovorax soli sp. nov., isolated from greenhouse soil

Abstract

A Gram-negative, rod-shaped, non-spore-forming bacterium, strain GH9-3T, isolated from greenhouse soil, was investigated in a polyphasic study. The novel organism grew at 10–35 °C, 0–3 % NaCl and pH 5–9. It had ubiquinone 8 (Q-8) as the predominant isoprenoid quinone and possessed C16 : 0, summed feature 3, C17 : 0 cyclo and C18 : 1 ω7c as the major fatty acids (together representing 87.4 % of the total). The DNA G+C content was 67.1 mol%. 16S rRNA gene sequence analysis of strain GH9-3T showed that it grouped within the Variovorax cluster, with highest sequence similarities to Variovorax paradoxus IAM 12373T (98.3 %) and Variovorax dokdonensis DS-43T (98.0 %). DNA–DNA hybridization values between strain GH9-3T and V. paradoxus DSM 30034T and V. dokdonensis DS-43T were 38 and 29 %, respectively. Based on phenotypic, chemotaxonomic and phylogenetic features, it is proposed that strain GH9-3T represents a novel species of the genus Variovorax with the name Variovorax soli sp. nov. The type strain is GH9-3T (=KACC 11579T=DSM 18216T).