Abstract

A Gram-negative, short, rod-shaped bacterium, TSA1T, was isolated from forest soil collected at Kyonggi University, South Korea. Assessment of 16S rRNA gene sequence sim-ilarity indicated that the strain is related to Massilia niastensis 5516S-1T (98.3%), M. haematophila CCUG 38318T (97.9%), M. aerilata 5516S-11T (97.9%), M. tieshanensis TS3T (97.6%), and M. varians CCUG 3529T (97.1%). Colonies grown on Reasoner’s 2A agar at 30°C for 2 days were transparent, white, round, smooth, and glossy. The cells grew at 10–42°C (optimum: 25–37°C) and pH 5–9 (optimum: 5–9) and in 0–2% NaCl (optimum: 0–1%). TSA1T was able to grow on trypticase soy and nutrient agar, but not on Luria-Bertani or MacConkey agar. The strain was catalase- and oxidase- positive and able to degrade starch and casein, but not car-boxymethyl cellulose. The predominant quinone of TSA1T was Q-8, the major fatty acids were summed feature 3 and C16:0, and the DNA G+C content was 66.7 mol%. Given these findings, we propose that this strain is a novel species of the genus Massilia. We suggest the name Massilia kyonggiensis sp. nov. (type strain, KACC 17471T =KEMB 9005-031T =JCM 19189T).

• Keywords: Massilia kyonggiensis; forest soil; taxonomy; soil bacteria