Sulfitobacter sediminis sp. nov., a novel halophilic bacterium isolated from tidal flat sediment

A novel bacterial strain, MJW-29^T, was isolated from tidal flat sediment in Gochang, Republic of Korea. The isolate is Gram-stain-negative, facultatively anaerobic, gliding motile and short rods. The strain MJW-29^T is oxidase and catalase positive. Growth is observed at 25-40 °C (optimum, 30 °C) and pH 5-9 (optimum, pH 7.0) in the presence of 0-9% (w/v) NaCl (optimum, 5.0% NaCl). The 16S rRNA gene sequence identity analysis showed that the strain MJW-29^T is closely associated with <i>Tateyamaria armeniaca</i> KMU-156^T (97.2%), <i>Sulfitobacter alexandrii</i> AM1-D1^T (97.2%), <i>Sulfitobacter sediminilitoris</i> JBTF-M27^T (97.0%) and <i>Thalassovita litoraria</i> KU5D5^T (96.9%) from the family <i>Roseobacteraceae</i>. The major respiratory quinone was Q-10. The major polar lipids were phosphatidylglycerol, phosphatidylcholine, phospholipid and an unidentified lipid. The major cellular fatty acids of type strain MJW-29^T were C_18:1 <i>ω</i>7c/C_18:1 <i>ω</i>6c (64.5%). The genome length of the type strain MJW-29^T is 4.9 Mbp (DNA G+C content, 62.1 mol%). It has 4638 coding genes and 43 tRNAs. The average aa identity values; average nt identity values; and biochemical, phylogenetic and physiological characteristics support the genotypic and phenotypic differentiation of strain MJW-29^T from other members of the genus <i>Sulfitobacter</i>. The strain MJW-29^T represents a novel species of the genus <i>Sulfitobacter</i> in the family <i>Roseobacteraceae</i>, for which the name <i>Sulfitobacter sediminis</i> sp. nov. is proposed. The type strain is MJW-29^T (=KCTC 8634^T=KEMB 20189^T=JCM 37145^T).