Rheinheimera maricola sp. nov., isolated from seawater of the Yellow Sea.

A Gram-negative and facultative aerobic strain, designated as strain MA-13T, was isolated from seawater in the Yellow Sea Republic of Korea. Cells were oxidase- and catalase-positive and non-motile short rods. Growth of strain MA-13T was observed over a range of 10-37 °C (optimum, 30 °C), pH 6.0-11.0 (optimum, pH 7.0) and in the presence of 0-5.5 % (w/v) sodium chloride (optimum, 1.0-2.0 %). Strain MA-13T contained ubiquinone-8 as the respiratory quinone, phosphatidylethanolamine, an unidentified aminolipid, an unidentified phospholipid and four unidentified lipids as major polar lipids and C16 : 0, C12 : 0 3-OH and summed feature 3 (C16 : 1 ω7c and/or C16 : 1 ω6c) as major cellular fatty acids. The G+C content of the genomic DNA was 48.3 mol%. Phylogenetic analyses based on the 16S rRNA gene and whole-genome sequences revealed that strain MA-13T formed a distinct phyletic lineage in the genus Rheinheimera. Strain MA-13T was most closely related to Rheinheimera lutimaris YQF-2T, Rheinheimera aquimaris SW-353T, Rheinheimera pacifica KMM 1406T and Rheinheimera baltica DSM 14885T with 98.10, 98.08, 98.07 and 97.94 % 16S rRNA gene sequence similarities. Average nucleotide identity and DNA-DNA hybridization values between strain MA-13T and R. aquimaris KCTC 12840T, R. pacifica DSM 17616T and R. baltica DSM 14885T were 76.3, 78.6 and 76.9 % and 19.5, 21.3 and 20.5 %, respectively. Based on the phenotypic, chemotaxonomic and molecular features, strain MA-13T represents a novel species of the genus Rheinheimera, for which the name Rheinheimera maricola sp. nov. is proposed. The type strain is MA-13T (=KACC 22113T=JCM 34600T).

Halomonas azerica sp. nov., Isolated from Urmia Lake in Iran.

A novel moderately halophilic, Gram-staining negative and facultative aerobic bacterium, designated as TBZ9T, was isolated from water of Urmia Lake in Azerbaijan region of Iran. The cells were found to be rod-shaped and motile, growing in the form of creamy, convex and shiny colonies. The strain could grow in the presence of NaCl at concentrations 1-17% (w/v) (optimum, 3%), temperatures 10-40 °C (optimum, 30 °C) and pH 6.0-11.0 (optimum, pH 7.0) on marine agar. Strain TBZ9T 16S rRNA gene sequence was related to the genus Halomonas showing highest similarities to Halomonas arcis AJ282T (98.4%), Halomonas songnenensis NEAU-ST10-39T (98.0%) and Halomonas lutescens Q1UT (97.8%). In the phylogenetic trees, strain TBZ9T formed a distinct branch closely related to a subclade inside the Halomonas genus. Digital DNA-DNA hybridization (dDDH) and average nucleotide identity (ANI) values between strain TBZ9T and H. arcis AJ282T (20.0%, 74.0%) and H. songnenensis NEAU-ST10-39T (19.8%, 75.2%) indicated that TBZ9T represents a distinct species. Evaluation of fatty acid contents determined C10:0, C16:0, C12:0 3-OH, summed feature 3 (C16:1 ω7c and/or C16:1 ω6c) and summed feature 8 (C18:1 ω7c and/or C18:1 ω6c) as major cellular fatty acids. The major quinone of strain TBZ9T was Q-9. Polar lipid patterns consisted of phosphatidylglycerol (PG), phosphatidylethanolamine (PE), two unidentified phospholipids (PL) and four unidentified polar lipids (L). The average DNA G + C content of strain TBZ9T is 55.4 mol%. Results from phenotypic, chemotaxonomic and molecular analysis suggest that the strain TBZ9T represents a novel species within the genus Halomonas for which the name Halomonas azerica sp. nov. is proposed. The type strain is TBZ9T (= KACC 21783T = LMG 25775T).