A red-pigmented, Gram-negative, strictly aerobic, rod-shaped bacterium which was motile by gliding, designated strain 1351(T), was isolated from the soil of Lengduo, Tibet in China and subjected to a polyphasic taxonomic analysis. The isolate grows optimally at 30°C and pH 7. It grows with NaCl tolerated up to 1.5% (optimum, 0.5%). Phylogenetic analysis based on the 16S rRNA gene sequence shows that strain 1351(T) is closely related to members of the family 'Cytophagaceae' closest sequence similarity was observed with similarity with Adhaeribacter terreus (91.8%). The major whole-cell fatty acids are summed feature 4 (containing anteiso-C(17:1) B and/or iso-C(17:1) I, 29.2%), summed feature 3 (containing C(16:1)ω6c and/or C(16:1)ω7c, 13.0%) and iso-C(15:0) (12.0%). The predominant menaquinone of strain 1351(T) is menaquinone-7 (MK-7) and the G+C content of the DNA is 46.8 mol%. According to the phylogenetic evidence and phenotypic data, strain 1351(T) is considered to represent a new genus and species of the family 'Cytophagaceae' for which the name Rufibacter tibetensis gen nov., sp. nov. is proposed. The type species is R. tibetensis and the type strain is 1351(T) (=CCTCC AB 208084(T) = NRRL B-51285(T)).

A Gram-stain negative, aerobic, non-motile, short-rod-shaped bacterium, designated KBL-4-9 T , was isolated from the storage liquid in the stems of Populus euphratica trees in Xinjiang, PR China. Strain KBL-4-9 T grew at 4-45 8C (optimum 37 8C), 1-3 % (w/v) NaCl (optimum 1 %, w/v) and pH 5.5-9.5 (optimum pH 7.5). Phylogenetic analyses based on 16S rRNA gene sequences indicated that strain KBL-4-9 T belonged to the genus Pseudomonas and showed the highest 16S rRNA gene sequence similarity of 97.36 % to Pseudomonas pelagia CL-AP6 T , followed by Pseudomonas xinjiangensis S3-3 T (97.16 %), Pseudomonas sabulinigri J64 T (97.15 %) and Pseudomonas xiamenensis C10-2 T (96.47 %). Analysis of strain KBL-4-9 T based on the three housekeeping genes, rpoB, rpoD and gyrB, further confirmed the phylogenetic assignment of the isolates. The DNA G+C content was 61.6 mol% (SD52.19). DNA-DNA hybridization with P. pelagia CL-AP6 T , P. xinjiangensis S3-3 T and P. sabulinigri J64 T revealed 49.3 % (SD53.04), 41.2 % and 52.5 % (SD54.45) relatedness, respectively. The major cellular fatty acids of strain KBL-4-9 T were C 16 : 0 , C 12 : 0 , summed feature 8 (C 18 : 1 v7c and/or C 18 : 1 v6c) and C 17 : 0 cyclo. The major isoprenoid quinone was Q-9. The major polar lipids were phosphatidylethanolamine, phosphatidylglycerol, diphosphatidylglycerol and phosphatidylcholine. On the basis of phenotypic, chemotaxonomic and phylogenetic properties, strain KBL-4-9 T is considered to represents a novel species of the genus Pseudomonas, for which the name Pseudomonas populi sp. nov. is proposed. The type strain is