A Gram-staining-negative, strictly aerobic, non-motile strain, SYSUP0001T, was isolated from tubers of Gastrodia elata Blume. The 16S rRNA gene sequence result indicated that SYSUP0001T represents a member of the genus Sphingomonas, with the highest sequence similarity (97.7 %) to the type strain of Sphingomonasginsengisoli. SYSUP0001T grew at 14-37 °C and pH 6-8, with optimum growth at 28 °C and pH 7. Tolerance to NaCl was up to 3 % (w/v) with optimum growth in the absence of NaCl. The respiratory quinone was Q-10. The major fatty acids were C18 : 1ω7c, Summed feature 3 (C16 : 1ω7c/C16 : 1ω6c), and C16 : 0. The polar lipids were diphosphatidylglycerol (DPG), phosphatidylethanolamine (PE), phosphatidylglycerol (PG), sphingoglycolipid (SGL), phosphatidylcholine (PC) and four unidentified polar lipids (L). The DNA G+C content was 67.5 %. The average nucleotide identity (ANI) values between SYSUP0001T and closely related members of the genus Sphingomonas were below the cut-off level (95-96 %) for species delineation. On the basis of the phenotypic, phylogenetic and chemotaxonomic characterizations, SYSUP0001T represents a novel species of the genus Sphingomonas, for which the name Sphingomonasmesophila sp. nov. is proposed. The type strain is SYSUP0001T (=KCTC 62179 T=CGMCC 1.16462T).
Keywords: Gastrodia elataBlume; Sphingomonas mesophila; endophyte; genome analysis.