Asticcacaulis endophyticus sp. nov., a prosthecate bacterium isolated from the root of Geum aleppicum
A strictly aerobic, light-yellow-coloured, stalked bacterium, designated strain ZFGT-14T, was isolated from the root of Geum aleppicum Jacq. collected from Taibai Mountain in Shaanxi province, north-west China, and was subjected to a taxonomic study using a polyphasic approach. This novel isolate grew at 7–33 °C (optimum 25–28 °C) and pH 6.0–10.0 (optimum pH 7.0–8.0). Flexirubin-type pigments were not produced. Cells were Gram-stain-negative, rod-shaped and motile with a single polar flagellum. The predominant respiratory quinone was Q-10. The major cellular fatty acids were summed feature 8 (comprising C18 : 1ω7c/C18 : 1ω6c), C16 : 0, C19 : 0 cyclo ω8c and summed feature 3 (comprising C16 : 1ω7c and/or C16 : 1ω6c) and the major polar lipids were phosphatidylglycerol and glycolipids. The DNA G+C content was 57.8 mol%. Phylogenetic analysis based on 16S rRNA gene sequences showed that strain ZFGT-14T was most closely related to the genus Asticcacaulis and had low sequence similarity (95.0–95.9 %) with all species with validly published names within the genus Asticcacaulis . Based on the phenotypic, phylogenetic and genotypic data, strain ZFGT-14T is considered to represent a novel species of the genus Asticcacaulis , for which the name Asticcacaulis endophyticus sp. nov. is proposed. The type strain is ZFGT-14T ( = CCTCC AB 2013012T = KCTC 32296T = LMG 27605T).