Methylobacterium gnaphalii sp. nov., isolated from leaves of Gnaphalium spicatum

A pink-pigmented, facultatively methylotrophic bacterium, strain 23e^T, was isolated from the leaves of Gnaphalium spicatum (cudweed). The cells of strain 23e^T were Gram-reaction negative, motile and non-spore-forming rods. On the basis of 16S rRNA gene sequence similarities, strain 23e^T was related to Methylobacterium organophilum ATCC 27886^T (97.1 %) and Methylobacterium marchantiae JT1^T (97 %), and the phylogenetic similarities to all other Methylobacterium species with validly published names were less than 97 %. Major cellular fatty acids were C_{18: 1}ω7c, C_{16: 00} and C_{18: 0}. The results of DNA-DNA hybridization, phylogenetic analyses based on 16S rRNA and cpn60 gene sequences, fatty acid profiles, whole-cell matrixassisted laser desorption/ionization time of flight/MS analysis, physiological and biochemical tests allowed genotypic and phenotypic differentiation of strain 23e^T from the phylogenetically closest relatives. We propose that strain 23e^T represents a novel species within the genus Methylobacterium, for which the name Methylobacterium gnaphalii sp. nov. is proposed. The type strain is 23e^T (=DSM 24027^T=NBRC 107716^T).