sp. nov., a novel species isolated from the beech rhizosphere.

Bacterial strain H4R21 was isolated from beech rhizosphere soil sampled in the forest experimental site of Montiers (Meuse, France). It effectively weathers minerals, hydrolyses chitin and produces quorum sensing signal molecules. The strain is aerobic and Gram-stain-negative. Phylogenetic analysis based on its 16S rRNA gene sequence indicated that strain H4R21 belongs to the genus with high sequence similarity to Ter10 (99.38 %), Ter6(98.97 %), Ter91 (98.76 %), RLT1W51 (98.46 %) and RXD178 (98.46 %), but less than 98 % similarity to other strains of the genus . The predominant quinone in H4R21 is ubiquinone-8 (Q8). The major polar lipids are diphosphatidylglycerol, phosphatidylethanolamine, diphosphatidylglycerol, phosphatidylglycerol and lipid. The major fatty acids identified were C, C 3-OH, C and Ccyclo. The digital DNA G+C content of the genomic DNA was 59.5 mol%. Furthermore, the strain could be clearly distinguished from its closely related type strains by a combination of phylogenomic and DNA-DNA hybridization results, and phenotypic characteristics. Therefore, strain H4R21 represents a novel species within the genus , for which the name sp. nov. is proposed, with strain H4R21 (=CFBP 9203=DSM 117599) as the type strain.