Two bacterial strains, BT325T and BT690, were isolated from soil samples collected in Korea. Both strains were Gram stain-negative, short rod-shaped, and formed light-pink colored colonies. The 16S rRNA sequence similarity of strains BT325T and BT690 shared a sequence similarity of 99.7%. Both strains shared the highest 16S rRNA gene similarity of 98.6% with Microvirga arabica SV2184PT, followed by Microvirga ossetica V5/3 M T (98.5% and 98.2%, respectively), Microvirga soli R491T (98.3% and 98.2%, respectively), Microvirga aerilata (98.2% and 98.08%, respectively), Microvirga makkahensis (98.08% and 97.8%, respectively). Phylogenetic analyses based on 16S rRNA gene sequences revealed that strain BT325T and BT690 were positioned in a distinct lineage within the family Methylobacteriaceae (order Rhizobiales, class Alphaproteobacteria). The genome size of strain BT325T was 5,200,315 bp and the genomic DNA G + C content was 64.3 mol%. The sole respiratory quinone of strain BT325T was Q-10 and the predominant cellular fatty acids were summed feature 3 (C16:1 ω7c/C16:1 ω6c) and summed feature 8 (C18:1 ω7c/C18:1 ω6c). The major polar lipids were diphosphatidylglycerol, phosphatidylglycerol, phosphatidylethanolamine, and phosphatidylcholine. Polyphasic taxonomic analysis of biochemical, chemotaxonomic, and phylogenetic analyses suggested that strains BT325T represents a novel bacterial species within the genus Microvirga, for which the name Microvirga splendida is proposed. The type strain of Microvirga splendida is BT325T (= KCTC 72406 T = NBRC 114847 T).
Keywords: Methylobacteriaceae; Microvirga; Novel species; Taxonomy.
© 2022. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Nature Switzerland AG.