Description of Flavobacterium fructosi sp. nov., Flavobacterium xylosi sp. nov. and Flavobacterium zhouii sp. nov., three new members of the genus Flavobacterium.

Abstract

Three novel strains, designated LB3P45^T, LS2P90^T and ZS1P70^T, were isolated from glaciers located on the Tibetan Plateau, PR China. These strains were Gram-stain-negative, aerobic, rod-shaped and yellow or orange coloured. Phylogenetic analysis based on the 16S rRNA gene and genomic sequences indicated that they belong to the genus Flavobacterium. The 16S rRNA gene sequence similarity among the three strains ranged from 97.4 to 98.6%. Strain LB3P45^T showed 98.9% and 98.7% similarity to Flavobacterium urumqiense CGMCC 1.9230^T and Flavobacterium xinjiangense JCM 11314^T, respectively. Strain LS2P90^T displayed 99.0% and 98.7% similarity to F. xinjiangense JCM 11314^T and F. urumqiense CGMCC 1.9230^T. Strain ZS1P70^T had the highest sequence similarity with F. xinjiangense JCM 11314^T (98.0%) and F. urumqiense CGMCC 1.9230^T (97.8%). The average nucleotide identity and digital DNA-DNA hybridization values between these strains and their closest relatives were lower than 93.0% and 47.9%, respectively. All three strains contained summed feature 3 (comprising C_16:1 ω7c and/or C_16:1 ω6c) as the major fatty acids. Based on phenotypic characteristics, phylogenetic analysis and genotypic data, the three novel species are proposed: Flavobacterium fructosi sp. nov. (LB3P45^T=CGMCC 1.11439^T=NBRC 114819^T), Flavobacterium xylosi sp. nov. (LS2P90^T=CGMCC 1.11685^T=NBRC 114823^T) and Flavobacterium zhouii sp. nov. (ZS1P70^T=CGMCC 1.24124^T=NBRC 114829^T).