Pedobacter ginsenosidimutans sp. nov., with ginsenoside-converting activity.

A Gram-reaction-negative, strictly aerobic, non-motile, non-spore-forming and rod-shaped bacterial strain, designated THG-45(T), was isolated from soil of a ginseng field of Pocheon province in the Republic of Korea and its taxonomic position was investigated by a polyphasic approach. Growth occurred at 4-30 °C, at pH 5.5-9.0 and with 0-2 % (w/v) NaCl on nutrient agar. On the basis of 16S rRNA gene sequence similarity, strain THG-45(T) was shown to belong to the genus Pedobacter and was related to Pedobacter borealis G-1(T) (98.8 %), P. alluvionis NWER-II11(T) (97.9 %), P. agri PB92(T) (97.9 %), P. terrae DS-57(T) (97.5 %), P. suwonensis 15-52(T) (97.4 %), P. sandarakinus DS-27(T) (97.0 %) and P. soli 15-51(T) (97.0 %), but DNA relatedness between strain THG-45(T) and these strains was below 36 %. The G+C content of the genomic DNA was 39 mol%. The only isoprenoid quinone detected in strain THG-45(T) was menaquinone-7 (MK-7). The predominant fatty acids were iso-C15 : 0, summed feature 3 (comprising C16 : 1ω6c and/or C16 : 1ω7c) and iso-C17 : 0 3-OH, and the major polar lipids were phosphatidylethanolamine and an unidentified aminophosphoglycolipid. Phenotypic data and phylogenetic inference supported the affiliation of strain THG-45(T) to the genus Pedobacter, and a number of biochemical tests differentiated strain THG-45(T) from the recognized species of the genus Pedobacter. Therefore, the novel isolate represents a novel species, for which the name Pedobacter ginsenosidimutans sp. nov. is proposed, with THG-45(T) as the type strain ( = KACC 14530(T) = JCM 16721(T)).