Two strains isolated from soil samples were designated as YH-JAE5T and YH-JAE2. The isolates were facultative anaerobic, Gram-stain-variable, motile, rod-shaped bacteria. Phylogenetic analysis indicated that the isolates belonged to the genus Paenibacillus, but the 16S rRNA gene sequence similarities were <98 % when compared with other species within the genus. Analysis of rpoB gene revealed the isolates formed a sub-cluster with P. chibensis. The only menaquinone identified was MK-7. The two isolates contained meso-diaminopimelic acid within their cell wall peptidoglycan. The major polar lipids were diphosphatidylglycerol, phosphatidylglycerol, phosphatidylethanolamine, phospholipid, aminophospholipids, and lipids. The major fatty acids were C15 : 0 anteiso and C15 : 0 iso. The average nucleotide identity, average amino acid identity, and digital DNA-DNA hybridization values between isolate YH-JAE5T and the most closely related reference strain (Paenibacillus chibensis KCTC 3758T) were 81.7, 84.8 and 23.4 %, respectively. The G+C content of the genomic DNA was 47.4 mol%. Thus, the polyphasic data revealed that YH-JAE2 (=KCTC 43239=JCM 34435) and YH-JAE5T (=KCTC 43059=JCM 33533) represent a new species. The name Paenibacillus dokdonensis sp. nov. is proposed.
Keywords: Paenibacillus dokdonensis; dokdo; genome; new species; phylogenetic; soil.