sp. nov., a novel methylotrophic bacterium isolated from oak buds.

Novel aerobic, restricted facultatively methylotrophic bacteria were isolated from buds of English oak ( L.; strain Dub) and northern red oak ( L.; strain KrD). The isolates were Gram-negative, asporogenous, motile short rods that multiplied by binary fisson. They utilized methanol, methylamine and a few polycarbon compounds as carbon and energy sources. Optimal growth occurred at 25 °C and pH 7.5. The dominant phospholipids were phosphatidylethanolamine, phosphatidylcholine, diphosphatidylglycerol and phoshatidylglycerol. The major cellular fatty acids of cells were C ω7, 11-methyl C ω7 and C. The major ubiquinone was Q-10. Analysis of 16S rRNA gene sequences showed that the strains were closely related to the members of the genus : S113(97.5-98.0 %), S1 (97.4-97.6 %) and PG04(97.0-97.2 %). The 16S rRNA gene sequence similarity between strains Dub and KrD was 99.7 %, and the DNA-DNA hybridization (DDH) result between the strains was 85 %. The ANI and the DDH values between strain Dub and S113 were 80.1 and 21.5  %, respectively. Genome sequencing of the strain Dub revealed a genome size of 3.57 Mbp and a G+C content of 67.0 mol%. Based on the results of the phenotypic, chemotaxonomic and genotypic analyses, it is proposed that the isolates be assigned to the genus as sp. nov. with the type strain Dub (=VKM B-3284=CCUG 73648=JCM 33463).