• Journal of Species Research
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• v.12 no.2
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• pp.165-173
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• 2023

Bacterial communities inhabiting islands play a vital role in the functioning and formation of a unique, isolated ecosystem. Nevertheless, there has been a lack of systematic research on the indigenous microbiological resources of the islands in Korea. To excavate microbial resources for further studies on the metabolism and biotechnological potential, a standard dilution plating was applied to coastal seawater samples collected from islands along the west coast of the Korean Peninsula, including Deokjeokdo, Baengnyeongdo, and Daebudo in 2022. A total of 2,007 bacterial strains were isolated from the samples as single colonies and identified using 16S rRNA gene sequence analyses. A total of 20 strains, with ≥98.7% 16S rRNA gene sequence similarity to bacterial species having validly published names but not reported in Korea, were designated as unrecorded bacterial species in Korea. The unrecorded bacterial strains were phylogenetically diverse and belonged to four phyla, five classes, 12 orders, 17 families, and 18 genera. The unreported species were assigned to Algimonas, Amylibacter, Notoacmeibacter, Roseibium, and Terasakiella of the class Alphaproteobacteria; Alteromonas, Congregibacter, Marinagarivorans, Marinicella, Oceanospirillum, Psychromonas, Thalassotalea, Umboniibacter, and Vibrio of the class Gammaproteobacteria; Lutibacter and Owenweeksia of the class Flavobacteriia; Paenibacillus of the class Bacilli; and Pelagicoccus of the class Opitutae. The taxonomic characteristics of the unreported species, including morphology, biochemistry, and phylogenetic position are provided in detail.

• 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.

• Korean Journal of Environmental Biology
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• v.38 no.2
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• pp.289-298
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• 2020

As part of the research program "2018 Rapid screening and identification of freshwater microorganisms using MALDI-TOF/MS library" freshwater samples were collected from a branch of the Nakdong River. Almost 300 antibiotic-resistant bacterial strains were isolated from freshwater samples and subsequently identified by 16S rRNA gene sequencing. Seventeen strains among the isolates shared high 16S rRNA gene sequence similarity (>99.0%) with known species that were not previously recorded in Korea, and each of the isolates also formed a robust phylogenetic clade with the closest species. These species were phylogenetically diverse, belonging to four phyla, seven classes, 10 orders, and 13 genera. At the genus and class level, the previously unrecorded species belonged to Rhodovarius, Xanthobacter, and Shinella of the class Alphaproteobacteria; Ottowia, Simplicispira, and Zoogloea of Betaproteobacteria; Pseudomonas, Acinetobacter, and Shewanella of Gammaproteobacteria; Arcobacter of Epsilonproteobacteria; Sphingobacterium of Sphingobacteriia; Trichococcus of Bacilli; and Leucobacter of Actinobacteria. The previously unrecorded species were further characterized by examining their gram-staining, colony and cell morphology, biochemical properties, and phylogenetic position.

• Journal of Species Research
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• v.9 no.4
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• pp.339-345
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• 2020

The Earth contains billions of microbial species, although the vast majority cannot be cultured in laboratories and are thus considered unidentified and uncharacterized. Extremophiles are microorganisms that thrive in extreme conditions, including temperature, salinity, and pH. Extremophilic microorganisms have provided important insights for biological, metabolic, and evolutionary studies. Between 2017 and 2019, as part of a comprehensive investigation to identify bacterial species in Korea, eight bacterial strains were isolated from marine and non-marine environments in Jeju Island. These strains were cultured under extreme salinity or pH conditions. Phylogenetic analysis using 16S ribosomal RNA(rRNA) gene sequencing indicated that all eight strains belonged to the phyla Gammaproteobacteria, Bacilli, and Alphaproteobacteria. Based on their high 16S rRNA gene sequence similarities(>98.7%) and the formation of strong monophyletic clades with their closest related species, all isolated strains were considered as an unrecorded strain, previously unidentified species. Gram stain reaction, culture conditions, colony and cell morphology, biochemical characteristics, isolation source, and National Institute of Biological Resources(NIBR) IDs are described in this article. The characterization of these unrecorded strains provides information on microorganisms living in Korea.

• Journal of Species Research
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• v.12 no.spc2
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• pp.33-44
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• 2023

In 2021, a total of 27 bacterial strains were isolated from soil, tree bark, moss, wetland, sea sediment, tidal flat, seawater and seaweed within Republic of Korea. Based on the analysis of 16S rRNA gene sequence (>98.7% sequence similarity), these isolates were assigned to the class Alphaproteobacteria as unrecorded species in Korea. The 27 strains were classified into the 10 families: Maricaulaceae of the order Caulobacterales; Brucellaceae, Methylobacteriaceae, Nitrobacteraceae and Rhizobiaceae of the order Hyphomicrobiales; Micropepsaceae of the order Micropepsales; Rhodobacteraceae of the order Rhodobacterales; Azospirillaceae of the order Rhodospirillales; and Erythrobacteraceae and Sphingomonadales of the order Sphingomonadaceae. There is no official report of these 27 species in Korea. Therefore, we report 27 isolates as unrecorded species, and described isolation sources, Gram-stain reactions, physiological and biochemical properties and morphologies of these strains.

• 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.13 no.1
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• pp.61-66
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• 2024

During an investigation of unrecorded prokaryotic species in Korea, six unrecorded bacterial strains were isolated from soil samples collected from Uljin-gun. Based on a similarity search using the 16S rRNA gene sequence of the isolated strains and the construction of the neighbor-joining phylogenetic tree, five strains were identified to the genus Pseudomonas of the family Pseudomonadaceae, while one strain was identified as a species belonging to the genus Paenibacillus of the family Paenibacillaceae. The details of these unreported species, including gram staining reaction, colony and cell morphology, basic biochemical characteristics, strain ID, and isolation source, are described in the description of the strains.

• Journal of Species Research
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• v.12 no.spc2
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• pp.15-22
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• 2023

During a comprehensive investigation of indigenous prokaryotic species in Korea, 20 and one bacterial strains assigned to the phyla Bacillota and Verrucomicrobiota, respectively, were isolated from diverse environmental habitats, including soil, mud, tidal flat, seawater, sand, sediment, brackish water, and healthy human urine. Based on their high 16S rRNA gene sequence similarities (>98.7%) and the formation of robust phylogenetic clades with their closest related reported species, each strain was assigned to an independent and predefined bacterial species. Since there were no published or official reports regarding these 21 isolates in Korea, they - 20 species of four families in two orders of the phylum Bacillota and one species of the phylum Verrucomicrobiota - have been reported as unrecorded species in Korea. In addition, Gram staining, colony and cell morphology, basic biochemical characteristic, isolation source, and strain ID of each species are also described in the species description sections.

• Journal of Species Research
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• v.9 no.2
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• pp.105-116
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• 2020

A total of 37 anaerobic bacteria strains within the classes Alphaproteobacteria, Betaproteobacteria, Gammaproteobacteria, Bacteroidia, Flavobacteriia, Bacilli, Clostridia, and Fusobacteriia were isolated from freshwater and sediment of the Geum River in Korea. The unreported species were related with Rhizobium and Oleomonas of the class Alphaproteobacteria; Acidovorax, Pseudogulbenkiania, and Aromatoleum of the class Betaproteobacteria; Tolumonas, Aeromonas, Cronobacter, Lonsdalea, and Phytobacter of the class Gammaproteobacteria; Bacteroides, Dysgonomonas, Macellibacteroides, and Parabacteroides of the class Bacteroidia; Flavobacterium of the class Flavobacteriia; Bacillus and Paenibacillus of the class Bacilli; Clostridium, Clostridioides, Paraclostridium, Romboutsia, Sporacetigenium, and Terrisporobacter of the class Clostridia; and Cetobacterium and Ilyobacter of the class Fusobacteriia. A total of 37 strains, with >98.7% 16S rRNA gene sequence similarity with validly published bacterial species, but not reported in Korea, were determined to be unrecorded anaerobic bacterial species in Korea.

• Journal of Species Research
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• v.7 no.1
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• pp.13-23
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• 2018

In 2016, as a part of the research program 'Survey of Korean Indigenous Species', diverse environmental samples were collected from various sources of freshwater, seawater, soil, wetland, reclaimed land, sand, pine forest, plant root, ginseng field, solar saltern, and caves. Thousands of bacterial strains were isolated from the diverse samples and identified based on 16S rRNA gene sequence analyses. The present study, as a phylogenetic subset of the primary research program, reports 24 unrecorded bacterial species in Korea that belong to the orders Rhizobiales and Sphingomonadales in the class Alphaproteobacteria. Based on the high 16S rRNA gene sequence similarities (>98.8%) and formation of a robust phylogenetic clade with the closest type species, it was determined that each strain belonged to each independent and predefined bacterial species. There is no official report that these 24 bacterial species have been described in Korea; therefore, 10 species of nine genera in the order Rhizobiales and 14 species of seven genera in the order Sphingomonadales are described for unreported alphaproteobacterial species in Korea. Gram reaction, colony and cell morphology, biochemical properties, and isolation sources are also provided in the species description section.