Flavisolibacter ginsengiterrae gen. nov., sp. nov. and Flavisolibacter ginsengisoli sp. nov., isolated from ginseng cultivating soil.

Two strains (Gsoil 492(T) and Gsoil 643(T)) isolated in Pocheon Province, South Korea, from soil used for ginseng cultivation were characterized using a polyphasic approach. Both isolates comprised Gram-negative, aerobic, non-motile, rod-shaped bacteria. They had similar chemotaxonomic characteristics, e.g. containing MK-7 as the major quinone, having a DNA G+C content in the range 42.5-43.3 mol% and possessing iso-C(15 : 0) and iso-C(17 : 0) 3-OH as the major fatty acids. A phylogenetic analysis based on 16S rRNA gene sequences indicated that the two isolates formed a tight cluster with several uncultured bacterial clones and with the established genera Terrimonas, Niastella and Chitinophaga in the phylum Bacteroidetes but were clearly separate from these genera. The levels of 16S rRNA gene sequence similarity between the isolates and type strains of related genera ranged from 87.5 to 92.4 %. Furthermore, the results of physiological and biochemical tests allowed phenotypic differentiation of the isolates from phylogenetically closely related species with validly published names. The level of 16S rRNA gene sequence similarity between the two strains was 99.5 %, whereas the DNA-DNA relatedness value was 44 %, indicating that they represent separate species. On the basis of the polyphasic evidence, a novel genus, Flavisolibacter gen. nov., and two novel species, Flavisolibacter ginsengiterrae sp. nov. (type strain Gsoil 492(T)=KCTC 12656(T)=DSM 18136(T)) and Flavisolibacter ginsengisoli sp. nov. (type strain Gsoil 643(T)=KCTC 12657(T)=DSM 18119(T)), are proposed. Flavisolibacter ginsengiterrae is the type species of the genus.