A Gram-staining-negative, yellow-coloured, strictly aerobic, non-spore-forming, rod-shaped bacterium, designated HS39 T , isolated from a soil sample collected from a natural Populus euphratica forest in Xinjiang, China, was characterized using a polyphasic approach. The isolate grew optimally at 30-37 6C, at pH 6.5-8.0 and with 0-3 % NaCl. Analysis of the 16S rRNA gene sequence of strain HS39T revealed that it is a member of the genus Sphingobacterium.Sphingobacterium mizutaii ATCC 33299 T was the nearest relative (94.0 % 16S rRNA gene sequence similarity). The G+C content of the genomic DNA was 40.2 mol%. The major fatty acids were iso-C 15 : 0 , iso-C 17 : 0 3-OH and summed feature 3 (comprising C 16 : 1 v6c and/or C 16 : 1 v7c). The predominant isoprenoid quinone was MK-7. On the basis of phenotypic properties and phylogenetic inference, strain HS39 T represents a novel species of the genus Sphingobacterium, for which the name Sphingobacterium shayense sp. nov. is proposed. The type strain is HS39 T (5CCTCC AB 209006 T 5NRRL B-59203 T ).

A novel Gram-staining-negative bacterial strain, designated XH4 T , was isolated from soil of a Populus euphratica forest in the Hotan River valley, Xinjiang Uyghur autonomous region, PR China. The cells were strictly aerobic, non-motile, short rods. The isolate grew optimally at 37 6C and at pH 7.0-8.0. Based on 16S rRNA gene sequence analysis, strain XH4 T belonged to the genus Sphingobacterium and was closely related to Sphingobacterium mizutaii ATCC 33299 T (96.1 % sequence similarity). The DNA G+C content was 41.2 mol%. The major polar lipid of strain XH4 T was phosphatidylethanolamine, and several unidentified polar lipids were also present. Strain XH4 T showed the typical chemotaxonomic features of the genus Sphingobacterium, with the presence of ceramide phosphorylethanolamine 2 (CerPE-2) as the major ceramide. The major cellular fatty acids of strain XH4 T were iso-C 15 : 0 (34.0 %), summed feature 3 (C 16 : 1 v7c and/or C 16 : 1 v6c; 20.7 %) and iso-C 17 : 0 3-OH (14.7 %). The predominant isoprenoid quinone was MK-7. On the basis of phenotypic data and phylogenetic inference, strain XH4 T represents a novel species of the genus Sphingobacterium, for which the name Sphingobacterium hotanense sp. nov. is proposed. The type strain is XH4 T (5NRRL B-59204 T 5CCTCC AB 209007 T ). Emended descriptions of Sphingobacterium daejeonense and Sphingobacterium shayense are also given.The genus Sphingobacterium (family Sphingobacteriaceae, phylum Bacteroidetes) was described by Yabuuchi et al. (1983) with three species, Sphingobacterium spiritivorum (type species of the genus), S. multivorum and S. mizutaii. At the time of writing, 15 additional species have been described: