Neorhizobium lilium sp. nov., an endophytic bacterium isolated from Lilium pumilum bulbs in Hebei province.

A novel gram-negative, aerobic, non-spore-forming, rod-shaped and non-nitrogen fixing bacterium named strain 24NR was isolated from wild Lilium pumilum bulbs in Fuping, Baoding City, Hebei province, PR China. The 16S rRNA gene sequences of strains 24NR showed the highest similarity to Neorhizobium alkalisoli DSM 21826 (98.5%) and N. galegae HAMBI 540 (98.1%). Phylogenetic analysis based on 16S rRNA genes and multilocus sequence analysis (MLSA) based on the partial sequences of atpD-glnII-glnA-recA-ropD-thrC housekeeping genes both indicated that strain 24NR is a member of the genus Neorhizobium. The average nucleotide identity between the genome sequence of strain 24NR and that of the isolate N. alkalisoli DSM 21826 was 83.1%, and the digital DNA-DNA hybridization was 20.1%. The G+C content of strain 24NR was 60.3 mol %. The major cellular fatty acids were summed feature 8 (Cω7c and/or Cω6c) and C cyclo ω8c. Based on phenotypic, phylogenetic, and genotypic data, strain 24NR is considered to represent a novel species of the genus Neorhizobium, for which the name Neorhizobium lilium sp. nov. is proposed. The type strain is 24NR (= ACCC 61588 = JCM 33731).