Paenibacillus endophyticus sp. nov., isolated from nodules of Cicer arietinum

Abstract

A bacterial strain, designated PECAE04T, was isolated from root nodules of Cicer arietinum in Spain. Phylogenetic analysis based on 16S rRNA gene sequence placed the isolate into the genus Paenibacillus with its closest relative being Paenibacillus castaneae Ch-32T with 98.4 % 16S rRNA gene sequence similarity followed by Paenibacillus glycanilyticus DS-1T, Paenibacillus prosopidis PW21T, Paenibacillus xinjiangensis B538T and Paenibacillus catalpae D75T with similarities ranging from 97.9 to 96.8 %. DNA–DNA hybridization measurements showed values lower than 20 % between the strain PECAE04T and any of these species. The isolate was a Gram-stain-positive, motile, sporulating rod. Catalase and oxidase activities were positive. Aesculin was hydrolysed but casein and gelatin were not. Acetoin production, H2S production, nitrate reduction and urease and caseinase production were negative. Growth was supported by many carbohydrates and organic acids as carbon sources. MK-7 was the predominant menaquinone and anteiso-C15 : 0, iso-C16 : 0 and C16 : 0 were the major fatty acids. Major polar lipids were diphosphatidylglycerol, phosphatidylethanolamine, phosphatidylglycerol, a glycolipid, three phospholipids and an unidentified lipid. Meso-diaminopimelic acid was not detected in the peptidoglycan. The DNA G+C content was 52.9 mol%. Phylogenetic, chemotaxonomic and phenotypic analyses showed that strain PECAE04T should be considered to be a representative of a novel species of the genus Paenibacillus , for which the name Paenibacillus endophyticus sp. nov. is proposed. The type strain is PECAE04T ( = LMG 27297T = CECT 8234T).