Alteromonas litorea sp. nov., a slightly halophilic bacterium isolated from an intertidal sediment of the Yellow Sea in Korea

Abstract

A Gram-negative, motile, non-spore-forming, rod-shaped bacterium, designated strain TF-22T, was isolated from an intertidal sediment in Korea. This organism grew optimally at 30–37 °C and in the presence of 2–5 % (w/v) NaCl. It did not grow without NaCl or in the presence of more than 14 % (w/v) NaCl. Strain TF-22T was characterized chemotaxonomically as having ubiquinone-8 as the predominant respiratory lipoquinone and C16 : 0, C16 : 1 ω7c and/or iso-C15 : 0 2-OH and C18 : 1 ω7c as the major fatty acids. The DNA G+C content of strain TF-22T was 46·0 mol%. Phylogenetic analyses based on 16S rDNA sequences showed that strain TF-22T falls within the γ-subclass of the Proteobacteria and forms a coherent cluster with Alteromonas macleodii and Alteromonas marina. Levels of 16S rDNA similarity between strain TF-22T and the type strains of two Alteromonas species were in the range 98·1–98·6 %. The level of DNA–DNA relatedness between strain TF-22T and the type strains of two Alteromonas species was 15·7–18·5 %. Therefore, on the basis of phenotypic properties, phylogeny and genomic distinctiveness, strain TF-22T should be placed in the genus Alteromonas as a novel species, for which the name Alteromonas litorea sp. nov. is proposed. The type strain is TF-22T (=KCCM 41775T=JCM 12188T).