Clostridium folliculivorans sp. nov., isolated from soil samples of an organic paddy in Japan

Two Gram- stain- negative, terminal endospore- forming, rod- shaped and aerotolerant bacterial strains designated D1- 1(T) and B3 were isolated from soil samples of an organic paddy in Japan. Strain D1- 1(T) grew at 15-37 degrees C, pH 5.0-7.3, and with up to 0.5 % (w/v) NaCl. Phylogenetic analysis of the 16S rRNA gene revealed that strain D1- 1(T) belonged to the genus Clostridium and was closely related to Clostridium zeae CSC2(T) (99.7 % sequence similarity), Clostridium fungisolvens TW1(T) (99.7 %) and Clostridium manihotivorum CT4(T) (99.3 %). Strains D1- 1(T) and B3 were whole- genome sequenced and indistinguishable, with an average nucleotide identity value of 99.7 %. The average nucleotide identity (below 91.1 %) and digital DNA-DNA hybridization (below 43.6 %) values between the two novel isolates and their corresponding relatives showed that strains D1- 1(T) and B3 could be readily distinguished from their closely related species. A novel Clostridium species, Clostridium folliculivorans sp. nov., with type strain D1-1(T) (=MAFF 212477(T)=DSM 113523(T)), is proposed based on genotypic and phenotypic data.