Niabella tibetensis sp. nov., isolated from soil, and emended description of the genus Niabella.

Strain 15-4(T), a Gram-stain-negative, rod-shaped, non-motile bacterial strain that produced flexirubin-type pigments, was isolated from Tibet Province, China, and characterized by using a polyphasic taxonomic approach. Phylogenetic analysis based on 16S rRNA gene sequences indicated that the isolate belonged to the family Chitinophagaceae, phylum 'Bacteroidetes', and was related to members of the genus Niabella, with sequence similarities ranging from 94.1 to 96.4 %. Strain 15-4(T) contained MK-7 as the predominant menaquinone and its DNA G+C content was 46.9 mol%. The major fatty acids of strain 15-4(T) were iso-C(15 : 0) (41.3 %), iso-C(15 : 1) G (14.9 %), iso-C(17 : 0) 3-OH (13.2 %) and summed feature 3 (comprising C(16 : 1)ω7c and/or iso-C(15 : 0) 2-OH, 16.0 %). These chemotaxonomic data supported the affiliation of strain 15-4(T) to the genus Niabella. However, a number of physiological and biochemical features enabled the isolate to be differentiated phenotypically from recognized species of the genus Niabella. On the basis of the evidence presented, it is proposed that strain 15-4(T) represents a novel species, Niabella tibetensis sp. nov.; the type strain is 15-4(T) ( = CCTCC AB 209167(T) = NRRL B-59394(T)). On the basis of these data, an emended description of the genus Niabella is also proposed.