Abstract
A curved, ring-like bacterium, strain AS 1.1761T, isolated from the roots of Spartina anglica, was studied by a polyphasic approach. According to phylogenetic analysis, strain AS 1.1761T belongs to the genus Ancylobacter, with 99·21 % 16S rDNA sequence similarity to Ancylobacter aquaticus, the only species described so far in this genus. However, strain AS 1.1761T had no significant DNADNA binding with the type strain of A. aquaticus. In addition, strain AS 1.1761T differed from A. aquaticus in many phenotypic features. Based on molecular and phenotypic data, a novel species, Ancylobacter rudongensis sp. nov., is proposed. The type strain is AS 1.1761T (=JCM 11671T).