Niabella agricola sp. nov., isolated from paddy soil

A polyphasic taxonomic approach was used to characterize a Gram- stain-negative, orange-coloured bacterium (designated strain CC-SYL272(T)) isolated from paddy soil. Cells were observed to be strictly aerobic, non-motile and non- spore-forming rods, exhibiting positive catalase and oxidase. Strain CC-SYL272(T) was found to grow optimally at 20-40 degrees C, pH 6.0-8.0 and NaCl 0-2 % (w/v). Phylogenetic analysis based on 16S rRNA gene sequences indicated that strain CC-SYL272(T) belongs to the genus Nia-bella, family Chitinophagaceae, and is most closely related to Niabella pedocola (97.8 %) followed by Niabella drilacis (97.2 %) and established a distinct taxonomic lineage associated with these species. The highest orthologous average nucleotide identity (OrthoANI) values were recorded for strain CC-SYL272(T) versus Niabella species (69.1-83.5 %, n=8). The mean digital DNA-DNA hybridization (dDDH) value obtained for strain CC-SYL272(T) against N. pedocola was 27.3 %. The polar lipid profile consisted of phosphatidylethanolamine and five unidentified lipids. The major polyamines were putrescine and sym-homospermidine. The dominating cellular fatty acids (>5 %) included iso-C-15:0, iso-C-15: 1 G, iso- C-17: 0 3OH and C-16:1 ?6c/C-16: 1 ?7c. The draft genome (6.25 Mb) of strain CC-SYL272(T) spanned three contigs having 47.1 mol% DNA G+C content, 5087 protein-encoding genes, 10 rRNA genes and 44 tRNA genes. The genome harboured genes involved in the depolymerization of both animal and plant poly-saccharides. Based on its distinct phylogenetic, phenotypic and chemotaxonomic traits together with results of comparative 16S rRNA gene sequence, OrthoANI, dDDH and the phylogenomic placement, strain CC-SYL272(T) is considered to represent a novel species of the genus Niabella, affiliated to the family Chitinophagaceae, for which the name Niabella agricola sp. nov. is proposed. The type strain is CC-SYL272(T) (=BCRC 81319(T)=JCM 34758(T)).