Agromyces allii sp. nov., isolated from the rhizosphere of Allium victorialis var. platyphyllum

Two Gram-positive, non-motile, yellow-pigmented, slightly curved and rod-shaped bacterial strains, UMS-62^T and UMS-101, were isolated from the rhizosphere of Allium victorialis var. platyphyllum, a variety of wild edible greens grown on Ulleung island, Korea. The taxonomic position of the strains was investigated by a polyphasic approach. Strains UMS-62^T and UMS-101 grew optimally at 30°C and at pH 6.5-7.5. The novel strains contained MK-11 and MK-12 as the predominant menaquinones and rhamnose, ribose and galactose as the major cell-wall sugars. The major cellular fatty acids (> 10% of the total fatty acids) were anteiso-C₁:5_:0, iso-C_16:0 and anteiso-C_17:0. The major polar lipids were diphosphatidylglycerol, phosphatidylglycerol and an unidentified glycolipid. The DNA G + C contents were 71.1-71.3 mol%. Phylogenetic trees based on 16S rRNA gene sequences showed that strains UMS-62^T and UMS-101 belong to the genus Agromyces. Strains UMS-62^T and UMS-101 showed a 16S rRNA gene sequence similarity value of 99.9% and a mean DNA-DNA relatedness level of 91.1%. Similarity values between the 16S rRNA gene sequences of the two novel strains and the type strains of recognized Agromyces species ranged from 95.2 to 99.1%. The levels of DNA-DNA relatedness between the two novel strains and the type strains of five phylogenetically related Agromyces species were in the range of 13.4 to 54.2%. On the basis of phenotypic properties, phylogenetic distinctiveness and genetic data, strain UMS-62^T (= KCTC 19181^T = JCM 13584^T) and strain UMS-101 are classified as representing a novel species in the genus Agromyces, for which the name Agromyces allii sp. nov. is proposed.