Two novel bacterial strains, designated CJ20^T and CJ99^T, belonging to the genus Sphingomonas, were isolated from the Han River in South Korea and a wetland in South Korea, respectively. Cells of both strains were Gram-stain-negative, aerobic, non-motile and yellow-pigmented. Strains were shown to grow optimally at 30˚C and pH 7 in the absence of NaCl on tryptic soy medium. Phylogenetic analysis based on 16S rRNA gene sequences showed that strains CJ20^T and CJ99^T belonged to the genus Sphingomonas and were most closely related to S. asaccharolytica Y-345^T and Sphingomonas koreensis JSS26^T with 97.87% and 97.58% 16S rRNA gene sequence similarities, respectively. Average nucleotide identity and digital DNA-DNA hybridization values of strain CJ20^T with S. asaccharolytica Y-345^T were 74.1% and 15.9%, respectively and those values of strain CJ99^T with S. koreensis JSS26^T were 73.9% and 15.6%, respectively. Both strains contained ubiquinone (Q-10) as the predominant respiratory quinone. The major polar lipids of strains CJ20^T and CJ99^T comprised phosphatidylethanolamine, diphosphatidylglycerol, phosphatidylglycerol, and sphingoglycolipid. The predominant fatty acids of both strains were summed feature 8 (C_18:1 ω7c and/or C_18:1 ω6c) and C_16:0. Based on polyphasic taxonomic analyses, strains CJ20^T and CJ99^T represent novel species of the genus Sphingomonas, for which names Sphingomonas degradans sp. nov. and Sphingomonas paludis are proposed, respectively. The type strains are CJ20^T (= KACC 23909 = JCM 37720) and CJ99^T (= KACC 24077 = JCM 37956).

A Gram-stain-negative, aerobic, non-motile, rod-shaped, and orange-pigmented bacterium, designated CJ426^T, was isolated from ginseng soil in Anseong, Korea. Strain CJ426^T grew optimally on Reasoner’s 2A agar at 30°C and pH 7.0 in the absence of NaCl. Phylogenetic analysis based on the 16S rRNA gene sequence revealed that strain CJ426^T belonged to the family Chitinophagaceae and had the highest sequence similarity with Niabella hibiscisoli KACC 18857^T (98.7%). The 16S rRNA gene sequence similarities with other members of the genus Niabella ranged from 92.3% to 98.1%. Phylogenomic analyses and overall genomic relatedness indices, including average nucleotide identity, average amino acid identity, and the percentage of conserved proteins values, supported the classification of strain CJ426^T as a representative of a novel genus within the family Chitinophagaceae. Furthermore, genome-based analyses suggested that five members of the genus Niabella, including N. aquatica, N. defluvii, N. ginsengisoli, N. hibiscisoli, and, N. yanshanensis, should be separated from other Niabella species and be assigned as a novel genus. The major isoprenoid quinone of strain CJ426^T was menaquinone-7 (MK-7). The predominant polar lipids were phosphatidylethanolamine and six unidentified aminolipids. The major fatty acids were iso-C_15:0, iso-C_15:1 G, and iso-C_17:0 3-OH. The genome of strain CJ426^T was 6.3 Mbp in size, consisting of three contigs, with a G + C content of 41.9%. Based on a polyphasic taxonomic approach, strain CJ426^T represents a novel genus and species within the family Chitinophagaceae, for which the name Paraniabella aurantiaca gen. nov., sp. nov. is proposed. The type strain is CJ426^T (= KACC 23908^T = JCM 37728^T).