Rhizobium changzhiense sp. nov., isolated from effective nodules of Vicia sativa L. in North China

Three fast-growing rhizobial strains isolated from effective nodules of common vetch ( Vicia sativa L.) were characterized using a polyphasic approach. All three strains were assigned to the genus Rhizobium on the basis of the results of 16S rRNA gene sequence analysis. Phylogenetic analysis based on concatenated atpD-recA genes separated the strains into a distinct lineage represented by WYCCWR 11279 T , which showed average nucleotide identity values of 95.40 and 93.61 % with the most similar phylogenetic type strains of Rhizobium sophorae CCBAU 03386 T and Rhizobium laguerreae FB T T , respectively. The digital DNA–DNA hybridization relatedness values between WYCCWR 11279 T and the closest related type strains were less than 70 %. Therefore, a novel rhizobial species is proposed, Rhizobium changzhiense sp. nov., and strain WYCCWR 11279 T (=HAMBI 3709 T =LMG 31534 T ) is designated as the type strain for the novel species.