Abstract

Taxonomic studies were performed on three strains isolated from Cheonho reservoir in Cheonan, Korea. The isolates were Gram-negative, aerobic, rod-shaped, non-motile, catalase-positive, and oxidase-positive. Colonies on solid media were cream-yellow, smooth, shiny, and circular. Phylogenetic analysis of the 16S rRNA gene sequences revealed that these strains belong to the genus Flavobacterium. The strains shared 98.6-99.4% sequence similarity with each other and showed less than 97% similarity with members of the genus Flavobacterium with validly published names. The DNA-DNA hybridization results confirmed the separate genomic status of strains ARSA-42T, ARSA-103T, and ARSA-108T. The isolates contained menaquinone-6 as the predominant menaquinone and iso-C15:0, iso-C15:0 3-OH, iso-C15:1 G, and iso-C16:0 3-OH as the major fatty acids. The genomic DNA G+C content of the isolates were 31.4-33.2 mol%. According to the phenotypic and genotypic data, these organisms are classified as representative of three novel species in the genus Flavobacterium, and the name Flavobacterium koreense sp. nov. (strain ARSA-42T =KCTC 23182T =JCM 17066T =KACC 14969T), Flavobacterium chungnamense sp. nov. (strain ARSA-103T =KCTC 23183T =JCM 17068T =KACC 14971T), and Flavobacterium cheonanense sp. nov. (strain ARSA-108T =KCTC 23184T =JCM 17069T =KACC 14972T) are proposed.

• Keywords: freshwater; Bacteroidetes; Flavobacterium