Clostridium folliculivorans sp. nov., isolated from soil samples of an organic paddy in Japan.

Two Gram-stain-negative, terminal endospore-forming, rod-shaped and aerotolerant bacterial strains designated D1-1 and B3 were isolated from soil samples of an organic paddy in Japan. Strain D1-1 grew at 15-37 °C, pH 5.0-7.3, and with up to 0.5 % (w/v) NaCl. Phylogenetic analysis of the 16S rRNA gene revealed that strain D1-1 belonged to the genus and was closely related to CSC2 (99.7 % sequence similarity), TW1 (99.7 %) and CT4 (99.3 %). Strains D1-1 and B3 were whole-genome sequenced and indistinguishable, with an average nucleotide identity value of 99.7 %. The average nucleotide identity (below 91.1 %) and digital DNA-DNA hybridization (below 43.6 %) values between the two novel isolates and their corresponding relatives showed that strains D1-1 and B3 could be readily distinguished from their closely related species. A novel species, sp. nov., with type strain D1-1 (=MAFF 212477=DSM 113523), is proposed based on genotypic and phenotypic data.