A Gram-reaction-negative, yellow-pigmented, non-spore-forming rod, aerobic, motile bacterium, designated SJY3T, was isolated from soil samples collected from a Pu-erh tea cellar in Bolian Pu-erh tea estate Co. Ltd. in Pu'er city, Yunnan, south-west China. Phylogenetic analysis based on 16S rRNA gene sequences showed that the isolate belonged to the genus Massilia. The closest phylogenetic relative was Massilia arenae CICC 24458T (99.5 %), followed by M. timonae CCUG45783T (97.9 %), M. oculi CCUG43427AT (97.8 %), and M. aurea DSM 18055T (97.8 %). The major fatty acids were C16 : 0 and C16 : 1 ω7c and/or C16 : 1 ω6c. The major respiratory quinone was ubiquinone Q-8 and the major polar lipids were diphosphatidylglycerol, phosphatidylglycerol, and phosphatidylethanolamine. Genome sequencing revealed a genome size of 5.97 M bp and a G+C content of 65.4 mol%. Pairwise determined whole genome average nucleotide identity (gANI) values and digital DNA-DNA hybridization (dDDH) values were all below the threshold. Although the 16S rRNA gene similarity of stain SJY3T and Massilia arenae CICC 24458T was more than 99 %, the gANI, dDDH values and genomic tree clearly indicated that they were not of the same species. In summary, strain SJY3T represents a new species, for which we propose the name Massilia puerhi sp. nov. with the type strain SJY3T (=CGMCC 1.17158T=KCTC 82193T).
Keywords: Massilia; Pu-erh tea Cellar; genome; novel species; polyphasic taxonomy.