Flavobacterium Compostarboris Sp Nov., Isolated From Leaf-And-Branch Compost, And Emended Descriptions Of Flavobacterium Hercynium, Flavobacterium Resistens And Flavobacterium Johnsoniae

A strictly aerobic, Gram-negative, yellow-pigmented, non-spore-forming rod, designated 15C3(T), was isolated from aerobic leaf-and-branch compost at EXPO Park in Osaka, Japan. Growth was observed at 9-33 degrees C (optimum 25 degrees C) and pH 5.6-7.9 (optimum pH 6.1-7.0). No growth occurred with >2% (w/v) NaCl. Strain 15C3(T) reduced nitrate to nitrogen and showed catalase activity but not oxidase activity. The predominant fatty acids were iso-C-15:0, iso-C-17:0 3-OH and summed feature 3 (comprising C-16:1 omega 7c and/or iso-C-15:0 2-OH). The isolate contained phosphatidylethanolamine as the major polar lipid and menaquinone-6 as the major respiratory quinone. The G+C content of the genomic DNA of strain 15C3(T) was 33.6 mol%. Phylogenetic analysis based on 16S rRNA gene sequences showed that strain 15C3(T) belonged to the genus Flavobacterium and was most closely related to Flavobacterium hercynium WB 4.2-33(T) (96.9% sequence similarity). On the basis of phenotypic and phylogenetic distinctiveness, strain 15C3(T) is considered to represent a novel species in the genus Flavobacterium, for which the name Flavobacterium compostarboris sp. nov. is proposed. The type strain is 15C3(T) (=KACC 14224(T) =JCM 16527(T)). Emended descriptions of F. hercynium, Flavobacterium resistens and Flavobacterium johnsoniae are also given.