A white-coloured, aerobic, and rod-shaped bacterium, designated strain ID0723T was isolated from evaporator core of automobile air conditioning system. The strain was Gram-stain-negative, catalase positive, oxidase negative, and grew at pH 5.5-9.5, at temperature 18-37 °C, and at 0-2.0% (w/v) NaCl concentration. The phylogenetic analysis and 16S rRNA gene sequence data revealed that the strain ID0723T was affiliated to the genus Schlegelella, with the closest phylogenetic member being Schlegelella brevitalea DSM 7029 T (98.1% sequence similarity). The chemotaxonomic features of strain ID0723T were diphosphatidylglycerol, phosphatidylglycerol, and phosphatidylethanolamine as the main polar lipids; Q-8 as an only ubiquinone; and summed feature 3 (C16:1ω7c and/or C16: 1ω6c), C16:0, and summed feature 8 (C18:1ω7c/or C18:1ω6c) as the major fatty acids. The average nucleotide identity (ANI) and in silico DNA-DNA hybridization values between strain ID0723T and S. brevitalea DSM 7029 T were 74.8% and 20.0%, respectively, which were below the cut-off values of 95% and 70%, respectively. The DNA G + C content was 69.9 mol%. The polyphasic taxonomic data clearly indicated that strain ID0723T represents a novel species in the genus Schlegelella for which the name Schlegelella koreensis sp. nov. is proposed, with the type strain ID0723T (= KCTC 72731 T = NBRC 114611 T).
Keywords: Air conditioning system; Comamonadaceae; Evaporator core; Schlegelella koreensis sp. nov..