Phycicoccus ochangensis sp. nov., Isolated from Soil of a Potato Cultivation Field

Two novel, Gram-positive, motile, coccal bacteria, strains L1b-b9∨T and B5a-b5, were isolated from a potato cultivation field in Ochang, Korea. These isolates grew at 10-45℃, pH 5.0-10.0, and in the presence of 8% (w/v) NaCl. The diagnostic diamino acid in the cell-wall peptidoglycan was meso-diaminopimelic acid. The major menaquinone was MK-8(H₄) and the main cellular fatty acids were iso-C∧14:0, iso-C∧15:0, and anteiso-C∧15:0. Polar lipids in strain L1b-b9∨T consisted of diphosphatidylglycerol, phosphatidylglycerol, phosphatidylinositol, and an unknown glyco-amino lipid. The G+C content of genomic DNA was 73.6 mol%. A phylogenetic analysis based on 16S rRNA gene sequences showed that strains L1b-b9∨T and B5a-b5 shared 99.36% similarity and formed a robust clade with the type species of the genus Phycicoccus. Strain L1b-b9∨T is related most closely to Phycicoccus cremeus V2M29∨T (97.52% 16S rRNA gene sequence similarity). On the basis of phylogenetic characteristics, the name Phycicoccus ochangensis sp. nov. is proposed for strain LIb-b9∨T (=KCTC 19695∨T =JCM 17595∨T).