Ancylobacter pratisalsi sp. nov. with plant growth promotion abilities from the rhizosphere of Plantago winteri Wirtg.

A Gram-negative bacterium, designated E130, was isolated from rhizospheric soil of Plantago winteri Wirtg. from a natural salt meadow as part of an investigation on rhizospheric bacteria from salt-resistant plant species and evaluation of their plant growth-promoting abilities. Cells were rods, non-motile, aerobic, and oxidase and catalase positive, grew in a temperature range of between 4 and 37 °C, and in the presence of 0.5-5 % NaCl (w/v). Based on 16S rRNA gene sequence analysis, strain E130 is affiliated within the genus Ancylobacter, sharing the highest similarity with Ancylobacter rudongensis DSM 17131 (97.6 %), Ancylobacter defluvii CCUG 63806 (97.5 %) and Ancylobacter dichloromethanicus DSM 21507 (97.4 %). The DNA G+C content of strain E130 was 65.1 mol%. Its respiratory quinones were Q-9 and Q-10 and its major polar lipids comprised phosphatidylethanolamine, phosphatidylglycerol, phosphatidylcholine and unidentified phospholipid. Major fatty acids of the strains E130 were C12 : 0, C16 : 0, C18 : 1ω7c and C19 : 0cycloω8c. The DNA-DNA relatedness of E130 to A. rudongensis DSM 17131, A. defluvii CCUG 63806 and A. dichloromethanicus DSM 21507 was 29.2, 21.2 and 32.2 % respectively. On the basis of our polyphasic taxonomic study the new isolate represents a novel species, for which the name Ancylobacter pratisalsi sp. nov. is proposed. The type strain is E130 (LMG 29367=DSM 102029).