Massilia kyonggiensis sp. nov., isolated from forest soil in Korea

A Gram-negative, short, rod-shaped bacterium, TSA1T, was isolated from forest soil collected at Kyonggi University, South Korea. Assessment of 16S rRNA gene sequence similarity indicated that the strain is related to Massilia niastensis 5516S-1T (98.3%), M. haematophila CCUG 38318T (97.9%), M. aerilata 5516S-11T (97.9%), M. tieshanensis TS3T (97.6%), and M. varians CCUG 3529T (97.1%). Colonies grown on Reasoner’s 2A agar at 30°C for 2 days were transparent, white, round, smooth, and glossy. The cells grew at 10–42°C (optimum: 25–37°C) and pH 5–9 (optimum: 5–9) and in 0–2% NaCl (optimum: 0–1%). TSA1T was able to grow on trypticase soy and nutrient agar, but not on Luria-Bertani or MacConkey agar. The strain was catalase- and oxidasepositive and able to degrade starch and casein, but not carboxymethyl cellulose. The predominant quinone of TSA1T was Q-8, the major fatty acids were summed feature 3 and C16:0, and the DNA G+C content was 66.7 mol%. Given these findings, we propose that this strain is a novel species of the genus Massilia. We suggest the name Massilia kyonggiensis sp. nov. (type strain, KACC 17471T =KEMB 9005-031T =JCM 19189T).