Gibbsiella greigii sp. nov., a novel species associated with oak decline in the USA

In 2010, cream-coloured, Gram-negative staining, facultatively anaerobic enterobacteria were isolated from a single black oak tree (Quercus kelloggii) exhibiting decline symptoms in southern California, USA. These 12 isolates were tentatively identified as Gibbsiella quercinecans based on partial gyrB sequencing. Closer examination of the strains using multilocus sequence analysis, based on partial sequences of gyrB, rpoB, infB and atpD genes, and almost complete 16S rRNA gene sequencing suggested that the isolates belong to a novel taxon within the genus Gibbsiella with G. quercinecans as their closest phylogenetic relative. DNA–DNA relatedness studies confirmed that the strains belong to a single taxon in Gibbsiella, which can be differentiated from other members of the genus by several phenotypic traits. Therefore, the name Gibbsiella greigii sp. nov. is proposed for this novel species isolated from symptomatic Q. kelloggii in the USA with FRB 224^T (=LMG 27716^T = NCPPB 4583^T) as the type strain.