A bacterial strain, designated 39S1MBT, isolated from a root nodule of a soybean plant that had been inoculated with root-zone soil of Amphicarpaea bracteata (hog peanut) growing in Canada, was previously characterized and placed in a novel lineage within the genus Bradyrhizobium. The taxonomic status of strain 39S1MBT was verified by genomic and phenotypic analyses. Phylogenetic analyses of individual and concatenated protein-encoding gene sequences (atpD, glnII, recA, gyrB and rpoB) placed 39S1MBT in a lineage distinct from named species. Data for sequence similarities of concatenated genes relative to type strains of named species supported the phylogenetic data. Average nucleotide identity values of genome sequences (84.5-91.7 %) were well below the threshold value for bacterial species circumscription. Based on these data, Bradyrhizobium ottawaense OO99T and Bradyrhizobium shewense ERR11T are close relatives of 39S1MBT. The complete genome of 39S1MBT consists of a single 7.04 Mbp chromosome without a symbiosis island; G+C content is 64.7 mol%. Present in the genome are key photosystem and nitrogen-fixation genes, but not nodulation and type III secretion system genes. Sequence analysis of the nitrogen fixation gene, nifH, placed 39S1MBT in a novel lineage distinct from named Bradyrhizobium species. Data for phenotypic tests including growth characteristics and carbon source utilization supported the sequence-based analyses. Based on the data presented here, a novel species with the name Bradyrhizobium amphicarpaeae sp. nov. is proposed with 39S1MBT (=LMG 29934T=HAMBI 3680T) as the type strain.
Keywords: Bradyrhizobium amphicarpaeae sp. nov.; complete genome sequence; nitrogen fixation genes; photosystem genes.