Curtobacterium ginsengisoli sp. nov., isolated from soil of a ginseng field.

A Gram-positive, non-motile, pale-yellow, short rod-shaped bacterium, strain DCY26(T), was isolated from soil of a ginseng field in South Korea and was investigated to determine its taxonomic position. The organism grew optimally at 30-37 degrees C. The G+C content of its DNA was 65.8 mol%. Phylogenetic analysis based on 16S rRNA gene sequences revealed that strain DCY26(T) was related most closely to species of the genus Curtobacterium, in the family Microbacteriaceae. Strain DCY26(T) showed highest 16S rRNA gene sequence similarity to Curtobacterium pusillum DSM 20527(T) (96.3 %), Curtobacterium luteum DSM 20542(T) (96.2 %), Curtobacterium flaccumfaciens LMG 3645(T) (96.2 %), Curtobacterium citreum DSM 20528(T) (96.1 %), Curtobacterium albidum DSM 20512(T) (96.1 %) and Curtobacterium herbarum DSM 14013(T) (95.3 %). The predominant menaquinone of strain DCY26(T) was MK-9. Other chemotaxonomic data also supported the affiliation of strain DCY26(T) to the genus Curtobacterium. On the basis of its phenotypic properties and phylogenetic distinctiveness, strain DCY26(T) is considered to represent a novel species of the genus Curtobacterium, for which the name Curtobacterium ginsengisoli sp. nov. is proposed. The type strain is DCY26(T) (=KCTC 13163(T) =JCM 14773(T)).