Paenibacillus taohuashanense sp. nov., a nitrogen-fixing species isolated from rhizosphere soil of the root of Caragana kansuensis Pojark

A nitrogen-fixing bacterium, designated strain gs65T, was isolated from a rhizosphere soil sample of Caragana kansuensis Pojark. Phylogenetic analysis based on a fragment of the nifH gene and the full-length 16S rRNA gene sequence revealed that strain gs65T is a member of the genus Paenibacillus. High levels of 16S rRNA gene similarity were found between strain gs65T and Paenibacillus borealis DSM 13188T (97.5 %), Paenibacillus odorifer ATCC BAA-93T (97.3 %), Paenibacillus durus DSM 1735T (97.0 %) and Paenibacillus sophorae DSM23020T (96.9 %). Levels of 16S rRNA gene sequence similarity between strain gs65T and the type strains of other recognized members of the genus Paenibacillus were below 97.0 %. Levels of DNA–DNA relatedness between strain gs65T and P. borealis DSM 13188T, P. odorifer ATCC BAA-93T (97.3 %), P. durus DSM 1735T and P. sophorae DSM23020T were 35.9, 38.0, 34.2 and 35.5 % respectively. The DNA G+C content of strain gs65T was determined to be 51.6 mol%. The major fatty acids were found to be iso-C14:0, anteiso-C15:0 and iso-C16:0. On the basis of its phenotypic characteristics and levels of DNA–DNA hybridization, strain gs65T is considered to represent a novel species of the genus Paenibacillus, for which the name Paenibacillus taohuashanense sp. nov. is proposed. The type strain is gs65T (=CGMCC 1.12175T = DSM 25809T).