Hyunsoonleella jejuensis gen. nov., sp. nov., a novel member of the family Flavobacteriaceae isolated from seawater

Abstract

A novel marine, Gram-staining-negative, yellow-pigmented, rod-shaped bacterial strain, designated CNU004T, was isolated from a seawater sample collected on the coastline of Jeju Island, South Korea. The strain was strictly aerobic, non-flagellated, non-gliding and oxidase- and catalase-positive. Phylogenetic analysis based on 16S rRNA gene sequences revealed that strain CNU004T belongs to a distinct lineage in the family Flavobacteriaceae. Strain CNU004T exhibited levels of 16S rRNA gene sequence similarity of 93.8–93.9 % to its nearest phylogenetic neighbours, members of the genera Gaetbulibacter, Yeosuana and Algibacter. The new isolate required sea salts or artificial seawater for growth. The optimum ranges of temperature and pH for growth were 30–35 °C and pH 7.0–8.0. The DNA G+C content of strain CNU004T was 37.7 mol%. The major fatty acids were iso-C15 : 0, iso-C15 : 1 G, iso-C17 : 0 3-OH and iso-C15 : 0 3-OH. Menaquinone-6 was the major respiratory quinone. Zeaxanthin was the major carotenoid pigment produced, and flexirubin-type pigments were not produced. Strain CNU004T was able to degrade starch and agar. Based on its phenotypic and genotypic characteristics and on the phylogenetic evidence presented, strain CNU004T is considered to represent a novel species of a new genus in the family Flavobacteriaceae, for which the name Hyunsoonleella jejuensis gen. nov., sp. nov. is proposed. The type strain of Hyunsoonleella jejuensis sp. nov. is CNU004T (=KCTC 22242T =DSM 21035T).