Two plant-tumorigenic strains KFB 330(T) and KFB 335 isolated from galls on raspberry (Rubus idaeus) in Serbia, and a non-pathogenic strain AL51.1 recovered from a cherry plum (Prunus cerasifera) tumor in Poland, were genotypically and phenotypically characterized. Phylogenetic reconstruction based on 16S rDNA placed them within the genus Agrobacterium, with A. nepotum as their closest relative. Multilocus sequence analysis (MLSA) based on the partial sequences of atpD, glnA, gyrB, recA and rpoB housekeeping genes suggested that these three strains represent a new Agrobacterium species, that clustered with type strains of A. nepotum, A. radiobacter, "A. fabrum" and A. pusense. This was further supported by average nucleotide identity values (<92%) between the whole genome sequences of strain KFB 330(T) and related Agrobacterium species. The major cellular fatty acids of the novel strains were 18:1 w7c (72.8-77.87%) and 16:0 (6.82-8.58%). Phenotypic features allowed their differentiation from closely related species. Polyphasic characterization showed that the three strains represent a novel species of the genus Agrobacterium, for which the name Agrobacterium arsenijevicii sp. nov. is proposed. The type strain of A. arsenijevicii is KFB 330(T) (= CFBP 8308(T) = LMG 28674(T)).
Keywords: 16S rDNA; ANI; Agrobacterium; Crown gall; MLSA; Taxonomy.
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