A Gram-stain-negative, aerobic, non-motile, yellow and rod-shaped bacterial strain was isolated from forest mud located at Kyung Hee University, South Korea. Strain THG-AG6.4T grew at 10-35 °C, pH 6.0-9.5 and in the presence of 0-1.5 % (w/v) NaCl. Phylogenetic analysis, based on 16S rRNA gene sequencing, showed that strain THG-AG6.4T was most closely related to Flavobacterium gyeonganense HME 7524T (97.66 %), Flavobacterium defluvii EMB 117T (96.93 %) and Flavobacterium arsenitoxidans S2-3HT (96.80 %). The DNA G+C content of strain THG-AG6.4T was 30.2 mol%. The DNA-DNA relatedness values between strain THG-AG6.4T and its closest phylogenetic neighbour, F. gyeonganense HME 7524T, were below 61.0 %. The predominant quinone of strain THG-AG6.4T was MK-6. The major polar lipids were phosphatidylethanolamine, an unidentified phospholipid, five unidentified glycolipids, phosphatidylserine, an unidentified lipid, an unidentified aminophospholipid, two unidentified aminolipids and two unidentified aminoglycolipids. The major fatty acids were C16 : 0, C18 : 0 10-methyl, summed feature 3 and C18 : 1ω9c. The major polyamine was homospermidine. On the basis of the phenotypic, genotypic and phylogenetic characterization of strain THG-AG6.4T, it is concluded that the isolate represents a novel species of the genus Flavobacterium, for which the name Flavobacterium limi sp. nov. is proposed, with THG-AG6.4T as the type strain (=KACC 18851T=CGMCC 1.16060T).
Keywords: Flavobacterium limi; mud sample; phenotypic analysis.