Mucilaginibacter litoreus sp. nov., isolated from marine sand

Abstract

A Gram-staining-negative, non-spore-forming, facultatively anaerobic, non-flagellated, non-gliding, rod-shaped bacterium, designated strain BR-18T, was isolated from marine sand collected on the western coast of South Korea. The taxonomic position of the novel strain was determined using a polyphasic approach. Strain BR-18T grew optimally at 25 °C, at pH 6.5-7.0 and in the absence of NaCl. In phylogenetic analyses based on 16S rRNA gene sequences, the novel strain fell within a clade comprising members of the genus Mucilaginibacter and appeared most closely related to Mucilaginibacter lutimaris BR-3T (96.6 % sequence similarity) and Mucilaginibacter rigui WPCB133T (95.9 %). The novel strain showed lower levels of 16S rRNA gene sequence similarity with the type strains of other members of the genus Mucilaginibacter (93.4-95.5 %) and those of other species included in the phylogenetic analyses (<91.6 %). Strain BR-18T contained MK-7 as its predominant menaquinone, summed feature 3 (C16: 1ω7c and/or iso-C15: 0 2-OH) and iso-C15: 0 as its major fatty acids, phosphatidylethanolamine and an unidentified aminophospholipid as its major polar lipids, and sphingolipids. The genomic DNA G+C content of the novel strain was 42.4 mol%. Based on the phylogenetic and phenotypic data, strain BR-18T represents a novel species of the genus Mucilaginibacter, for which the name Mucilaginibacter litoreus sp. nov. is proposed. The type strain is BR-18T (= KCTC 23697T = CCUG 61484T).