Beschreibung:
<jats:p>Three genera in the Rubiaceae (<jats:italic>Pavetta</jats:italic>, <jats:italic>Psychotria</jats:italic> and <jats:italic>Sericanthe</jats:italic>) harbour bacterial endosymbionts within leaf nodules or galls. The present paper identifies the bacterial endophytes in three leaf-nodulating <jats:italic>Pavetta</jats:italic> species. In order to reveal their identity and assess their phylogenetic position, 16S rRNA, <jats:italic>recA</jats:italic> and <jats:italic>gyrB</jats:italic> genes were sequenced from an extensive sampling of <jats:italic>Burkholderia</jats:italic> strains. This multigene approach results in a robust phylogeny, which places the bacterial endosymbionts of <jats:italic>Pavetta</jats:italic> at two distinct positions within the genus <jats:italic>Burkholderia</jats:italic> (class <jats:italic>Betaproteobacteria</jats:italic>), suggesting that leaf-nodulating endosymbionts within <jats:italic>Pavetta</jats:italic> have different origins. The endophytes of nodulated <jats:italic>Psychotria</jats:italic> species were recognized as the closest relatives to the <jats:italic>Pavetta</jats:italic> endosymbionts. Our results suggest that the endosymbionts of <jats:italic>Pavetta</jats:italic> represent novel species, which can be classified as ‘<jats:italic>Candidatus</jats:italic> Burkholderia hispidae’, ‘<jats:italic>Candidatus</jats:italic> Burkholderia rigidae’ and ‘<jats:italic>Candidatus</jats:italic> Burkholderia schumannianae’.</jats:p>