Ochrobactrum ciceri sp. nov., isolated from nodules of Cicer arietinum.

A Gram-staining-negative, aerobic, rod-shaped, non-spore-forming bacterial strain, Ca-34(T), was isolated from nodules of chickpea (Cicer arietinum) in Pakistan and studied for its taxonomic affiliation. The almost full-length 16S rRNA gene sequence showed highest similarities to those of strains of the genus Ochrobactrum. Based on results of MALDI-TOF MS and 16S rRNA gene sequence similarity (98.6 %), strain Ca-34(T) and Ochrobactrum intermedium LMG 3301(T) are phylogenetic neighbours; the two strains shared DNA-DNA relatedness of 64 %. The fatty acid profile [predominantly C(18 : 1)omega7c (67.7 %) and C(19 : 0) cyclo omega8c (19.6 %)] also supported the genus affiliation. Metabolically, strain Ca-34(T) differed from other type strains of Ochrobactrum in many reactions and from all type strains in testing positive for gelatin hydrolysis and in testing negative for assimilation of alaninamide and l-threonine. Based on phenotypic and genotypic data, we conclude that strain Ca-34(T) represents a novel species, for which we propose the name Ochrobactrum ciceri sp. nov. (type strain Ca-34(T) =DSM 22292(T) =CCUG 57879(T)).