Maribacter litorisediminis sp. nov., isolated from a tidal flat

A Gram-stain-negative, aerobic, non-spore-forming, non-flagellated, non-gliding and rod-shaped bacterial strain, HPTF-2T, was isolated from a tidal flat in the Yellow Sea in South Korea, and subjected to a taxonomic study using a polyphasic approach. Strain HPTF-2T grew optimally at 30 °C, at pH 7.0-8.0 and in the presence of 2.0 % (w/v) NaCl. Phylogenetic trees based on 16S rRNA gene sequences revealed that strain HPTF-2T fell within the clade comprising the type strains of species of the genus Maribacter. Strain HPTF-2T exhibited 16S rRNA gene sequence similarity values of 97.1-98.0 % to the type strains of Maribacter stanieri, M. orientalis, M. arcticus, M. dokdonensis, M. confluentis, M. aquivivus, M. sedimenticola and M. caenipelagi, and of 95.1-96.7 % to the type strains of the other species of the genus Maribacter. Strain HPTF-2T contained MK-6 as the predominant menaquinone and iso-C17 : 0 3-OH, iso-C15 : 0 and iso-C15 : 1 G as the major fatty acids. The major polar lipids of strain HPTF-2T were phosphatidylethanolamine and two unidentified lipids. Mean DNA-DNA relatedness values of strain HPTF-2T with the type strains of the nine phylogenetically related species of the genus Maribacter were 10-26 %. The DNA G+C content of strain HPTF-2T was 38.4 mol%. The differential phenotypic properties, together with the phylogenetic and genetic distinctiveness, revealed that strain HPTF-2T is separated from other species of the genus Maribacter. On the basis of the data presented, strain HPTF-2T represents a novel species of the genus Maribacter, for which the name Maribacter litorisediminis sp. nov. is proposed. The type strain is HPTF-2T (=KCTC 52251T=NBRC 112297T).