RT Journal Article SR Electronic(1) A1 Baek, Ju Hye A1 Baek, Woonhee A1 Jeong, Sang Eun A1 Lee, Sung Chul A1 Jin, Hyun Mi A1 Jeon, Che OkYR 2022 T1 Rhodococcus oxybenzonivorans sp. nov., a benzophenone-3-degrading bacterium, isolated from stream sediment JF International Journal of Systematic and Evolutionary Microbiology, VO 72 IS 6 OP SP 005433 DO https://doi.org/10.1099/ijsem.0.005433 PB Microbiology Society, SN 1466-5034, AB A Gram-stain-positive, facultative aerobic, oxidase-negative, catalase-positive, non-sporulating, and non-motile bacterium, which degraded benzophenone-3, was isolated from stream sediment collected in the Republic of Korea and designated as strain S2-17T. Cells of this strain were rod-shaped during the early growth phase but became coccoid after the late exponential growth phase. Bacterial growth was observed at 15–37 °C (optimum, 25–30 °C) and pH 6.0–9.5 (optimum, pH 7.5–8.5) and in the presence of 0–9.0 % (w/v) NaCl (optimum, 0–1.0 %). Menaquinone-8 (H2) was the sole isoprenoid quinone, and C16 : 0, C17 : 1  ω8c, summed feature 3 (comprising C16 : 1  ω7c/C16 : 1  ω6c) and C18 : 1  ω9c were the major fatty acids. The cell wall of strain S2-17T contained meso-diaminopimelic acid, and arabinose, galactose and mycolic acid were found in whole-cell hydrolysates, suggesting a chemotype IV cell wall. The G+C content of the genome was 65.6 mol%. Phylogenetic analyses revealed that strain S2-17T formed a phyletic lineage within the genus Rhodococcus and was most closely related to Rhodococcus jostii DSM 44719T (99.2 % 16S rRNA gene sequence similarity). Average nucleotide identity and digital DNA–DNA hybridization values between strain S2-17T and R. jostii DSM 44719T were 82.6 and 26.5 %, respectively, indicating differences between the species. Based on its phenotypic, chemotaxonomic and molecular features, strain S2-17T represents a novel species of the genus Rhodococcus , for which the name Rhodococcus oxybenzonivorans sp. nov. is proposed. The type strain is S2-17T (=KACC 19281T=JCM 32046T)., UL https://www.microbiologyresearch.org/content/journal/ijsem/10.1099/ijsem.0.005433