Eionea flava sp. nov., isolated from coastal seawater, and emended description of the genus Eionea

A Gram-staining-negative, non-motile, catalase- and oxidase-positive, facultatively aerobic bacterium, designated IMCC1962(T) was isolated from a surface seawater sample from the Yellow Sea. Phylogenetic analysis based on 16S rRNA gene sequences revealed that strain IMCC1962(T )belonged to the genus Eionea, forming a robust clade with members of the genus, and was most closely related to Eionea nigra (97.3% similarity). DNA-DNA relatedness between strain IMCC1962(T) and Eionea nigra DSM 19752(T) was 21.8-26.3%, which indicated strain IMCC1962(T) represents a novel genomic species of the genus Eionea. The G+C content of the DNA of strain IMCC1962(T) was 48.7 mol%. The major isoprenoid quinone was ubiquinone Q-8 and major fatty acids were C16 : 1ω7c and/or C16 : 1ω6c (43.4%), C18 : 1ω7c and/or C18 : 1ω6c (19.3%) and C16 : 0 (17.2%). The polar lipids found in strain IMCC1962(T) were phosphatidylethanolamine, phosphatidylglycerol, aminophospholipid, unknown phospholipid, and four unknown polar lipids. Strain IMCC1962(T) and Eionea nigra DSM 19752(T) differed from each other in diverse phenotypic characteristics including motility, colony colour and enzyme activities. On the basis of phenotypic and genotypic data, strain IMCC1962(T) ( = KACC 17481(T)= NBRC 109703(T)) represents a novel species of the genus Eionea, for which the name Eionea flava sp. nov. is proposed. An emended description of the genus Eionea is also provided.