Paenibacillus hunanensis sp. nov., isolated from rice seeds.

Four Gram-stain-positive, aerobic or facultatively anaerobic, motile, endospore-forming, rod-shaped bacteria, designated strains FeL05(T), FeL11, Fek19 and Fek21, were isolated from seeds of hybrid rice (Oryza sativa L. Jinyou 611), and their taxonomic positions were determined using a polyphasic approach. Phylogenetic analysis based on 16S rRNA gene sequences showed that the four strains were members of the genus Paenibacillus. They showed 95.4 % sequence similarity or less with strains of other Paenibacillus species. The G+C content of strain FeL05(T) was found to be 53.3 mol%. Its predominant respiratory quinone was MK-7. The predominant cellular fatty acids were anteiso-C(15 : 0) (61.7 %), C(16 : 0) (10.9 %), iso-C(16 : 0) (7.0 %), anteiso-C(17 : 0) (6.7 %) and iso-C(15 : 0) (5.2 %). On the basis of its phenotypic properties and phylogenetic distinctiveness, strain FeL05(T) represents a novel species of the genus Paenibacillus, for which the name Paenibacillus hunanensis sp. nov. is proposed. The type strain is strain FeL05(T) (=ACCC 10718(T) =CGMCC 1.8907(T) =DSM 22170(T)).