The genus Flavobacterium encompasses a diverse group of bacteria widely distributed across various ecological habitats, including freshwater environments, underscoring their significant ecological roles. In this study, seven putatively novel bacterial strains belonging to the genus Flavobacterium were isolated from freshwater samples collected in the Republic of Korea. A comprehensive polyphasic approach, combined with comparative genomic and pan-genome analyses, was employed to determine their exact taxonomic status and to understand their genomic adaptations and ecological niche partitioning within freshwater ecosystems. The seven isolated strains (designated RHBU_3 T , RHBU_24 T , RSB2_4_14 T , XGLA_31 T , RSSA_27 T , RSSB_23 T , and TSSA_36 T ) are Gram-negative, yellow-colored, and tested positive for both catalase and oxidase. Phylogenetic analyses based on 16S rRNA gene and whole-genome sequences revealed that these strains form a distinct clade within the genus Flavobacterium . Genome sizes ranged from 3.1 to 4.3 Mb with DNA G+C contents of 33.3–43.9%. The average nucleotide identity and digital DNA-DNA hybridization values among the novel strains and reference strains were significantly below the proposed thresholds for species delineation (95–96% and 70%, respectively). Pan-genome analysis identified an open pan-genome structure with a total of 9,197 gene clusters. Hierarchical clustering and functional annotation further resolved the seven strains into three ecologically distinct groups, each harboring unique functional gene repertoires and secondary metabolite biosynthetic gene clusters consistent with micro-niche partitioning. Chemotaxonomically, iso-C 15:0 was identified as the predominant cellular fatty acid and menaquinone-6 as the major respiratory quinone. Based on integrated phenotypic, chemotaxonomic, phylogenetic, and genomic evidence, the seven strains represent seven novel species within the genus Flavobacterium , for which the names Flavobacterium flexirubinicum sp. nov., Flavobacterium daejeonense sp. nov., Flavobacterium coreanaquaticum sp. nov., Flavobacterium amylolyticum sp. nov., Flavobacterium limnicola sp. nov., Flavobacterium alkalitolerans sp. nov., and Flavobacterium dulcigenum sp. nov. are formally proposed.
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Jeong et al. (2026) studied this question.
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