Jeotgalibacillus alimentarius gen. nov., sp. nov., a novel bacterium isolated from jeotgal with L-lysine in the cell wall, and reclassification of Bacillus marinus Ruger 1983 as Marinibacillus marinus gen. nov., comb. nov.

Abstract

A moderately halophilic, round-endospore-forming bacterium (strain YKJ-13T) was isolated from jeotgal, a traditional Korean fermented seafood, and studied by a polyphasic taxonomic approach. This organism was related to the phylogenetic clade comprising members of Bacillus rRNA group 2 and formed a cluster with Bacillus marinus with a bootstrap fidelity value of 93.6%. The peptidoglycan type was A1α linked directly through L-Lys. Based on cell morphology, peptidoglycan type and phylogeny, strain YKJ-13T, together with B. marinus, is considered to be a member of Bacillus rRNA group 2. Strain YKJ-13T was also characterized by having MK-7 and MK-8 as the predominant menaquinones and iso-C15:0 as the major fatty acid. The DNA G+C content was 44 mol%. Strain YKJ-13T exhibited a 16S rDNA similarity value of 95.7% with B. marinus DSM 1297T, its closest phylogenetic relative. Levels of 16S rDNA similarity between strain YKJ-13T and other Bacillus spp. were less than 94.2%. Therefore, on the basis of the data presented, the name Jeotgalibacillus alimentarius gen. nov., sp. nov. is proposed for strain YKJ-13T (= KCCM 80002T = JCM 10872T). It is also proposed that B. marinus be reclassified in Marinibacillus gen. nov. as Marinibacillus marinus comb. nov.