Paenibacillus shirakamiensis sp. nov., isolated from the trunk surface of a Japanese oak (Quercus crispula).

A novel bacterial strain designated P-1T was isolated from the trunk surface of a Japanese oak (Quercus crispula) growing in the Shirakami Mountains in Japan. Cells of strain P-1T were Gram-stain-negative, ellipsoidal endospore-forming, aerobic, slightly acidophilic rods, 0.8×2-5 µm, and motile by means of peritrichous flagella. Various carbohydrates could be used as growth substrates, but none of the organic acids tested were used. The major cellular fatty acid was anteiso-C15:0, which accounted for 64.2% of the total fatty acids. The major respiratory quinone was menaquinone 7 (MK-7). Strain P-1T contained phosphatidylglycerol, diphosphatidylglycerol and phosphatidylethanolamine, four unidentified aminolipids, an unidentified phospholipid and two unidentified polar lipids. Strain P-1T shared the highest 16S rRNA gene sequence similarity with Paenibacillus pini S22T (96.6%), followed by Paenibacillus chibensis JCM 9905T (96.1%) and Paenibacillus anaericanus MH21T (95.9%). The DNA G+C content was 43.9 mol%. These data indicate that strain P-1T represents a novel species within the genus Paenibacillus, for which we propose the name Paenibacillus shirakamiensis sp. nov. The type strain is P-1T (NBRC 109471T=DSM 26806T=KCTC 33126T=CIP 110571T).