The environment of plant rhizosphere soil differs from that of non-rhizosphere soil due to the secretion of mucilage polysaccharides from the roots. This environment is regarded as one of the preferential habitats for agar-degrading bacteria. In a previous study, agar-degrading Steroidobacter agariperforans KA5-B T was isolated from agar-enriched agricultural soil using diffusible metabolites from Rhizobiales bacteria. Based on the hypothesis that similar characteristic bacteria still exist in the rhizosphere, isolation was performed using rhizosphere soils. Agar-degrading SA29-B T and YU21-B were isolated from onion and soybean rhizosphere soils. The 16S rRNA genes of these strains showed ≥98.7% identities with the most closely related strain KA5-B T. However, differences were noted in polysaccharide utilization, and average nucleotide identities were <95-96% against strain KA5-B T , indicating that they are different species from S. agariperforans KA5-B T. To investigate the distribution of bacterial sequences affiliated with novel strains, a primer set was designed and a metaanalysis of the 16S rRNA gene was performed. Sequences were widely distributed in rhizospheres throughout Japan, but varied in plant-and region-dependent manners. Regarding phenotypic characterization, distinguishable features were observed in growth temperatures, pH, and dominant fatty acids. SA29-B T and YU21-B grew at 15-40°C and pH 6.0-12 and contained C 16:0 as the dominant cell fatty acid, whereas KA5-B T showed no growth at 40°C and pH 12 and contained a moderate amount of C 16:0. Based on these characteristics, SA29-B T (JCM 333368 T =KCTC 72223 T) and YU21-B (JCM 333367=KCTC 72222) represent novel species in the genus Steroidobacter, for which the name Steroidobacter agaridevorans sp. nov. is proposed.

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