Paenibacillus sophorae sp. nov., a nitrogen-fixing species isolated from the rhizosphere of Sophora japonica
A nitrogen-fixing bacterium, designated strain S27T, was isolated from rhizosphere soil of Sophora japonica. Phylogenetic analysis based on a fragment of the nifH gene and the full-length 16S rRNA gene sequence revealed that strain S27T is a member of the genus Paenibacillus. High levels of 16S rRNA gene sequence similarity were found between strain S27T and Paenibacillus durus DSM 1735T (97.3 %), Paenibacillus sabinae DSM 17841T (96.9 %), Paenibacillus forsythiae DSM 17842T (96.7 %) and Paenibacillus zanthoxyli DSM 18202T (96.6 %). However, DNA–DNA hybridization values between strain S27T and the four type strains were 37.64 %, 23.12 %, 25.6 % and 34.99 %, respectively. Levels of 16S rRNA gene sequence similarity between strain S27T and the type strains of other recognized members of the genus Paenibacillus were below 96.5 %. The DNA G+C content of strain S27T was 46.0 mol%. The major fatty acids were anteiso-C15 : 0, C16 : 0 and iso-C16 : 0. The major isoprenoid quinone was MK-7. On the basis of its phenotypic characteristics and DNA–DNA hybridization results, strain S27T is considered to represent a novel species of the genus Paenibacillus, for which the name Paenibacillus sophorae sp. nov. is proposed. The type strain is S27T ( = CGMCC 1.10238T = DSM 23020T).