Pedobacter ginsenosidimutans sp. nov., with ginsenoside-converting activity

Jung-Eun Yang, Heung-Min Son, Jung Min Lee, Heon-Sub Shin, Sang-Yong Park, Don-Gil Lee, MooChang Kook, Tae-Hoo Yi

¹Graduate School of Biotechnology, Kyung Hee University, Yongin 446-701, Republic of Korea

²Department of Oriental Medicinal Material & Processing College of Life Science, Kyung Hee University, 1 Seocheon, Kihung Yongin, Kyunggi 446-701, Republic of Korea

³Department of Institute for Medical Sciences, School of Medicine, Ajou University, Suwon 443-749, Republic of Korea

⁴Department of Marine Biotechnology, Anyang University, Incheon 417-833, Republic of Korea

Correspondence
Tae-Hoo Yi drhoo{at}khu.ac.kr MooChang Kook moochang{at}hanmail.net

International Journal of Systematic and Evolutionary Microbiology 2013; 63(Pt 12):4396–4401 · https://doi.org/10.1099/ijs.0.051102-0

Abstract

A Gram-reaction-negative, strictly aerobic, non-motile, non-spore-forming and rod-shaped bacterial strain, designated THG-45^T, was isolated from soil of a ginseng field of Pocheon province in the Republic of Korea and its taxonomic position was investigated by a polyphasic approach. Growth occurred at 4–30 °C, at pH 5.5–9.0 and with 0–2 % (w/v) NaCl on nutrient agar. On the basis of 16S rRNA gene sequence similarity, strain THG-45^T was shown to belong to the genus Pedobacter and was related to Pedobacter borealis G-1^T (98.8 %), P. alluvionis NWER-II11^T (97.9 %), P. agri PB92^T (97.9 %), P. terrae DS-57^T (97.5 %), P. suwonensis 15-52^T (97.4 %), P. sandarakinus DS-27^T (97.0 %) and P. soli 15-51^T (97.0 %), but DNA relatedness between strain THG-45^T and these strains was below 36 %. The G+C content of the genomic DNA was 39 mol%. The only isoprenoid quinone detected in strain THG-45^T was menaquinone-7 (MK-7). The predominant fatty acids were iso-C_15 : 0, summed feature 3 (comprising C_16 : 1ω6c and/or C_16 : 1ω7c) and iso-C_17 : 0 3-OH, and the major polar lipids were phosphatidylethanolamine and an unidentified aminophosphoglycolipid. Phenotypic data and phylogenetic inference supported the affiliation of strain THG-45^T to the genus Pedobacter, and a number of biochemical tests differentiated strain THG-45^T from the recognized species of the genus Pedobacter. Therefore, the novel isolate represents a novel species, for which the name Pedobacter ginsenosidimutans sp. nov. is proposed, with THG-45^T as the type strain ( = KACC 14530^T = JCM 16721^T).