Cohnella thailandensis sp. nov., a xylanolytic bacterium from Thai soil.

A xylanolytic bacterium, strain S1-3(T), was isolated from soil collected in Nan province, Thailand. It was characterized taxonomically based on phenotypic characteristics and 16S rRNA gene sequence comparison. The strain was a Gram-stain-positive, facultatively anaerobic, spore-forming, rod-shaped bacterium. It contained meso-diaminopimelic acid in the cell-wall peptidoglycan. The major menaquinone was MK-7. Iso-C₁₆:₀ (39.5 %) and anteiso-C₁₅:₀ (26.8 %) were predominant cellular fatty acids. Diphosphatidylglycerol, phosphatidylglycerol, phosphatidylethanolamine and lysyl-phosphatidylglycerol were the major polar lipids. The DNA G+C content was 53.3 mol%. Phylogenetic analysis using 16S rRNA gene sequences showed that strain S1-3(T) was affiliated to the genus Cohnella, and was closely related to Cohnella ginsengisoli GR21-5(T) and Cohnella thermotolerans CCUG 47242(T) with 95.7 and 95.3 % sequence similarity, respectively. Strain S1-3(T) could be clearly distinguished from related species of the genus Cohnella by its physiological and biochemical characteristics as well as by its phylogenetic position. Therefore, the strain represents a novel species of the genus Cohnella, for which the name Cohnella thailandensis sp. nov. is proposed. The type strain is S1-3(T) (=KCTC 22296(T) =TISTR 1890(T) =PCU 306(T)).