Pedobacter jejuensis sp. nov., isolated from soil of a pine grove, and emended description of the genus Pedobacter.

A Gram-stain-negative, strictly aerobic, non-motile, rod-shaped bacterial strain, THG-DR3T, was isolated from soil of a pine grove in Jeju island, Republic of Korea. Strain THG-DR3T grew optimally at 20-25 °C, at pH 7.0-8.0 and in R2A broth without added NaCl. 16S rRNA gene sequence analysis indicated that strain THG-DR3T belongs to the genus Pedobacter. The closest relatives based on 16S rRNA gene sequence similarity were Pedobacter aquatilis AR107T (98.0%), Pedobacter alluvionis NWER-II11T (97.7%), Pedobacter borealis G-1T (97.7%) and Pedobacter ginsengiterrae DCY49T (97.4%). The G+C content of the genomic DNA of strain THG-DR3T was 47.5 mol%. Levels of DNA-DNA relatedness between strain THG-DR3T and its closest phylogenetic neighbours were below 44.7%. The presence of menaquinone 7 and of iso-C15:0 and summed feature 3 (comprising C16:1ω7c and/or C16:1ω6c) as the major fatty acids supported the affiliation of strain THG-DR3T to the genus Pedobacter. The polar lipids of strain THG-DR3T consisted of phosphatidylethanolamine, three unidentified aminophospholipids, five unidentified aminolipids and three unidentified lipids. The results of physiological and biochemical tests allowed the differentiation of strain THG-DR3T from recognized species of the genus Pedobacter. Strain THG-DR3T (=KACC 17172T=JCM 18824T) is proposed as the type strain of a novel species of the genus Pedobacter, Pedobacter jejuensis sp. nov. An emended description of the genus Pedobacter is also proposed.