Reclassification of Leifsonia ginsengi (Qiu et al. 2007) as Herbiconiux ginsengi gen. nov., comb. nov. and description of Herbiconiux solani sp. nov., an actinobacterium associated with the phyllosphere of Solanum tuberosum L.

In the context of studying the effects of transgenic fructan-producing potatoes on the community structure of phyllosphere bacteria, a group of strains closely related to the species Leifsonia ginsengi was isolated. Phylogenetic analysis based on 16S rRNA gene sequences revealed that the new isolates and L. ginsengi DSM 19088(T) formed a lineage at the genus level and this finding was supported by chemotaxonomic characterization. The peptidoglycan type of the representative isolate, K134/01(T), and L. ginsengi DSM 19088(T) was B2γ, with d- and l-diaminobutyric acid as the diagnostic diamino acid and glycine, alanine and threo-3-hydroxyglutamic acid. The almost-complete substitution of glutamic acid by threo-3-hydroxyglutamic acid supported the differentiation of the new strains from recognized species of the genus Leifsonia. Furthermore, the detection of substantial amounts of the fatty acid cyclohexyl-C(17 : 0) in the new isolates and L. ginsengi DSM 19088(T) was a prominent chemotaxonomic feature for a clear demarcation of these strains from all genera of the family Microbacteriaceae that display the B2γ cell-wall type. Comparative phylogenetic and phenotypic analyses of the isolates and L. ginsengi DSM 19088(T) revealed the separate species status of the isolates. On the basis of these results, it is proposed that L. ginsengi should be classified as the type species of a novel genus, Herbiconiux gen. nov., with the name Herbiconiux ginsengi gen. nov., comb. nov. (type strain wged11(T) = CGMCC 4.3491(T) = JCM 13908(T) = DSM 19088(T) = NBRC 104580(T)). The phyllosphere isolates are assigned to a novel species, Herbiconiux solani sp. nov. (type strain K134/01(T) = DSM 19813(T) = LMG 24387(T) = NBRC 106740(T)).