Pedobacter huanghensis sp. nov. and Pedobacter glacialis sp. nov., isolated from Arctic glacier foreland.

Two psychrotolerant, Gram-stain-negative, rod-shaped bacterial strains, designed M1-27(T) and 8-24(T), were subjected to polyphasic taxonomic studies. Strain M1-27(T) was isolated from the foreland of the Midtre Lovénbreen glacier, whereas strain 8-24(T) was isolated from the foreland of the Austre Lovénbreen glacier. Both were Arctic glacier forelands, near Ny-Ålesund, Svalbard Archipelago, Norway. Strains M1-27(T) and 8-24(T) exhibited 16S rRNA gene sequence similarities of 91.0-96.0% and 92.3-96.7%, respectively, to type strains of recognized species of the genus Pedobacter. Phylogenetic analysis based on 16S rRNA gene sequences showed that the two strains were grouped with members of the genus Pedobacter, but represented distinct taxa. Both strains contained MK-7 as the predominant menaquinone. The DNA G+C contents of strains M1-27(T) and 8-24(T) were 43.8% and 39.4%, respectively. The phenotypic characteristics, biochemical properties and polygenetic analysis, clearly indicated that strains M1-27(T) ( = CCTCC AB 2012936(T) = LMG 28205(T)) and 8-24(T) ( = CCTCC AB 2012941(T) = NRRL B-59993(T)) represent two novel species of the genus Pedobacter, for which the names Pedobacter huanghensis sp. nov. and Pedobacter glacialis sp. nov., respectively, are proposed.