Fulvimonas soli gen. nov., sp. nov., a gamma-proteobacterium isolated from soil after enrichment on acetylated starch plastic.

Six deep-yellow-pigmented strains were isolated from soil after enrichment on plasticized acetylated starch granules as a source of carbon. They showed very similar and unique fatty acid profiles, consisting almost exclusively of branched fatty acids. The strains consisted of small, motile rods, were oxidase- and catalase-positive, did not ferment sugars and were able to depolymerize starch and suspended acetylated starch in overlayer plates. The 16S rDNA sequence of a representative strain, strain LMG 19981T, showed 96.7% sequence similarity to that of Rhodanobacter lindaniclasticus, 96.0% to that of Frateuria aurantia and less than 92% to sequences of other members of the gamma-Proteobacteria. Repetitive extragenic palindromic DNA PCR fingerprinting revealed two groups, representatives of which showed 93% DNA-DNA reassociation with each other and less than 10% with Frateuria aurantia LMG 1558T. On the basis of phenotypic characteristics and the G+C content of the DNA, the strains could be differentiated from Frateuria aurantia and Rhodanobacter lindaniclasticus. The name Fulvimonas soli gen. nov., sp. nov. is proposed, with the type strain LMG 19981T (= DSM 14263T).