• Journal of Species Research
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• v.6 no.3
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• pp.214-223
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• 2017

As part of a larger study with the aim to discover indigenous prokaryotic species in Korea, nine bacterial strains were isolated and assigned to the phylum Proteobacteria in 2016. High 16S rRNA gene sequence similarity (>98.5%) and formation of a robust phylogenetic clades with known species indicated that each strain belongs to an independent and predefined bacterial species. This is the first report of these nine species in Korea: two strains of the Methylobacterium, two strains of the Microvirga, one strain of the Pantoea, and four strains of the Psychrobacter, all within the Proteobacteria. Gram reaction, colony and cell morphology, basic biochemical characteristics, and isolation sources are also described in the species description section.

• Journal of Species Research
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• v.7 no.2
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• pp.114-122
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• 2018

As part of a larger study of indigenous prokaryotic species diversity in South Korea, various samples from Namhangang were subjected to analyses. Fresh water, underwater sediment, and moss-inhabiting aerobic and anaerobic bacteria were isolated. 22 of the isolates were identified as unrecorded bacterial species in Korea that had ${\geq}98.7%$ 16S rRNA gene sequence similarity with published species. The aerobic strains isolated were Kurthia gibsonii and Massilia plicata. Also identified were four facultative anaerobic strains: Bacillus hisashii, Enterococcus rotai, Paenibacillus vini, and Pediococcus pentosaceus. 16 strictly anaerobic strains were identified as Bacteroides xylanolyticus, Carnobacterium maltaromaticum, Clostridium argentinense, Clostridium beijerinckii, Clostridium butyricum, Clostridium cavendishii, Clostridium diolis, Clostridium frigidicarnis, Clostridium perfringens, Clostridium saccharoperbutylacetonicum, Clostridium sphenoides, Clostridium subterminale, Cutibacterium acnes, Paraclostridium bifermentans, Prevotella paludivivens, and Romboutsia lituseburensis. Based on the examination of morphological, cultural, physiological, and biochemical properties of the isolates, descriptive information of these previously unrecorded species is provided here.

• Journal of Species Research
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• v.7 no.3
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• pp.231-239
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• 2018

While screening indigenous prokaryotic species in Republic of Korea in 2017, a total of 17 bacterial strains assigned to the phylum Bacteroidetes were isolated from a variety of environmental habitats including water of fountain, tidal flat, plant root, soil, the gut of Russian grayling butterfly, ginseng field, seawater, lagoon and seashore sand. From the 16S rRNA gene sequence similarity of more than 98.7% and the formation of a robust phylogenetic clade with the closest species, it was found that the 17 strains belong to independent and recognized bacterial species. There has been no official report that the identified 17 species have been previously isolated in the Republic of Korea. Thus, 15 species in 10 genera of one family in the order Flavobacteriales, one species in one genus of one family in the order Cytophagales, and one species in one genus of one family in the order Sphingobacteriales are proposed as unrecorded species of the phylum Bacteroidetes found in the Republic of Korea. Gram reaction, colony and cell morphology, basic phenotypic characteristics, isolation source, taxonomic status, strain ID and other information are described in the species descriptions.

• Journal of Species Research
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• v.10 no.2
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• pp.134-141
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• 2021

During a survey of indigenous prokaryotic species diversity of the upstream Nakdong River, South Korea, 12 bacterial strains were isolated for further analysis. These bacterial strains were identified showing at least 98.7% 16S rRNA gene sequence similarity with known bacterial species that were previously unreported in South Korea. The 12 bacterial strains were phylogenetically diverse and assigned to four classes, eight orders, nine families, and ten different genera. The isolates were identified as Leucobacter holotrichiae (99.1%), Leucobacter tardus (99.9%), Rhodococcus rhodochrous (99.9%), Tessaracoccus oleiagri (100%), and Paeniglutamicibacter cryotolerans (99.3%), of the class Actinobacteria; Bacillus coagulans (99.7%) and Bacillus wudalianchiensis (99.1%) of the class Bacilli; Ochrobactrum pseudogrignonense (99.2%) and Paracoccus thiocyanatus (100%) of the class Alphaproteobacteria; and Ideonella azotifigens (99.0%), Polaromonas glacialis(99.3%), and Herbaspirillum seropedicae (99.5%) of the class Betaproteobacteria. The cellular and colonial morphology, biochemical properties, and phylogenetic position of these isolates were examined, and species descriptions are provided.

• Journal of Species Research
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• v.10 no.4
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• pp.321-335
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• 2021

In 2020, a total of 12 bacterial strains were isolated from soil after a comprehensive investigation of indigenous prokaryotic species in Korea. It was determined that each strain belonged to independent and predefined bacterial species, with high 16S rRNA gene sequence similarity (>98.7%) and formation of a robust phylogenetic clade with the closest species. This study identified four families in the phylum Actinobacteria, two families in the phylum Proteobacteria, one family in the phylum Bacteroidetes one family in the phylum Firmicutes; and four species in the family Nocardiaceae, two species in the family Nocardioidaceae, one species in the family Cellulomonadaceae, one species in the family Hymenobacter, one species in the family Methylobacteriaceae, one species in the family Microbacteriaceae, one species in the family Bacillaceae and one species in the family Sphingomonadaceae. There is no official report of these 12 species in Korea, so they are described as unreported bacterial species in Korea in this study. Gram reaction, basic biochemical characteristics, colony, and cell morphology are included in the species description section.

• Journal of Species Research
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• v.8 no.4
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• pp.337-350
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• 2019

In an investigation of indigenous prokaryotic species in Korea, a total of 35 bacterial strains assigned to the phylum Firmicutes were isolated from diverse habitats including natural and artificial environments. Based on their high 16S rRNA gene sequence similarity (>98.7%) and formation of robust phylogenetic clades with species of validly published names, the isolates were identified as 35 species belonging to the orders Bacillales (the family Bacillaceae, Paenibacillaceae, Planococcaceae, and Staphylococcaceae) and Lactobacillales (Aerococcaceae, Enterococcaceae, Lactobacillaceae, Leuconostocaceae, and Streptococcaceae). Since these 35 species in Korean environments has not been reported in any official report, we identified them as unrecorded bacterial species and investigated them taxonomically. The newly found unrecorded species belong to 20 species in the order Bacillales and 15 species in the order Lactobacillales. The morphological, cultural, physiological, and biochemical properties of the isolates were examined and the descriptive information of the 35 previously unrecorded species is provided here.

• Journal of Species Research
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• v.7 no.3
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• pp.187-192
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• 2018

During a comprehensive study of indigenous prokaryotic species in South Korea, nine bacterial species in the phylum Bacteroidetes were isolated from freshwater environmental samples that were collected from three major rivers in the Republic of Korea. High 16S rRNA gene sequence similarity (${\geq}98.7%$) and robust phylogenetic clades with the closely related species suggest that each strain was correctly assigned to an independent and predefined bacterial species. There were no previous reports of these nine species in Korea. Within the phylum Bacteroidetes, four species were assigned to the genus Flavobacterium, order Flavobacteriales, and five species to three genera of two families in the order Cytophagales. Gram reaction, colony and cell morphology, basic biochemical characteristics, isolation source, and strain IDs are described in the species description section.

• Journal of Species Research
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• v.11 no.1
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• pp.1-9
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• 2022

The phylum Actinobacteria includes many groups of aerobic, Gram-stain-positive, rod, or filamentous shaped bacteria. Actinobacteria are known for multicellular differentiation in some groups, and also for production of various secondary metabolites such as antibiotics. During a series of extensive surveys of indigenous prokaryotic species diversity in Korea, bacterial strains belonging to Actinobacteria were isolated from various sources of terrestrial environments. A total of 21 bacterial strains, belonging to 10 genera in 8 families, were isolated as unrecorded species in Korea. Among them, 11 were assigned to the family Streptomycetaceae, two species assigned to each of the families Microbacteriaceae, Mycobacteriaceae and Nocardioidaceae, and one species assigned to each of the families Euzebyaceae, Corynebacteriaceae, Micrococcaceae and Intrasporangiaceae. At the genus level, Streptomyces (10 species) was the most abundant, followed by Microbacterium and Mycolicibacterium(2 species each), and one species in each of the genera Corynebacterium, Euzebya, Arthrobacter, Terracoccus, Kribbella, Nocardioides and Yinghuangia. The detailed descriptions of each unrecorded species are provided.

• Journal of Species Research
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• v.7 no.1
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• pp.60-72
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• 2018

Our study aimed to discover indigenous prokaryotic species in Korea. A total of 29 bacterial species in the phylum Proteobacteria were isolated from freshwater and sediment of rivers and brackish zones in Korea. From the high 16S rRNA gene sequence similarity (${\geq}98.8%$) and formation of a robust phylogenetic clade with the closest species, it was determined that each strain belonged to an independent and predefined bacterial species. To our knowledge, there is no official report or publication that has previously described these 29 species in Korea. Specifically, we identified 10, 12, and seven species of eight, 12, and seven genera that belong to classes Alphaproteobacteria, Betaproteobacteria, and Gammaproteobacteria, respectively; all are reported as previously unrecorded bacterial species in Korea. The Gram reaction, colony and cell morphology, basic biochemical characteristics, isolation source, and strain IDs for each are also described.

• Korean Journal of Environmental Biology
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• v.40 no.4
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• pp.405-412
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• 2022

Suncheon Bay Ecological Park, possessing abundant fisheries and biological diversity, was registered as a Ramsar wetland in Korea. Approximately 300 bacterial strains were isolated from the Suncheon Bay in a comprehensive study of indigenous prokaryotic species conducted during 2019-2020 in South Korea. A total of 12 bacterial strains were identified using 16S rRNA gene sequencing, demonstrating >98.7% sequence similarity with validly published species. These species were determined to be unrecorded bacterial species in Korea. A total of six strains were isolated from brackish water and Phragmites communis Trin (reed) species. These unrecorded species were phylogenetically diverse and belonged to three classes, six orders, and ten genera. Regarding the genus and class levels, the previously unrecorded species belonged to Jiella, Martelella, Rhizobium, Paracoccus, Rhodovulum, and Altererythrobacter of the class Alphaproteobacteria; Mycolicibacterium, Demequina, and Microbacterium of the class Actinobacteria; Confluentibacter of the class Flavobacteria. The twelve species were further characterized by gram staining, colony and cell morphology, biochemical properties, and phylogenetic position.