Loktanella agnita sp. nov. and Loktanella rosea sp. nov., from the north-west Pacific Ocean

1 Swinburne University of Technology, PO Box 218, Hawthorn, VIC 3122, Australia 2 Pacific Institute of Bioorganic Chemistry of the Far-Eastern Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Pr. 100 Let Vladivostoku 159, 690022 Vladivostok, Russian Federation 3 Institute of Marine Biology of the Far-Eastern Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences, 690041 Vladivostok, Russian Federation 4 Institute of Microbiology of the Russian Academy of Sciences, 117811 Moscow, Russian Federation 5 Pacific Oceanological Institute of the Far-Eastern Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Baltiiskaya Str. 43, 690017 Vladivostok, Russian Federation 6 School of Agricultural Science, University of Tasmania, Private Bag 54, Hobart, Tasmania 7001, Australia Correspondence Elena P. Ivanova eivanova{at}swin.edu.au One whitish and four pinkish strains of Gram-negative, non-motile, aerobic bacteria were isolated from sea-water and sediment samples collected in Chazhma Bay (Sea of Japan, Pacific Ocean). Analysis of 16S rRNA gene sequences revealed that these strains belonged to the ‘ Alphaproteobacteria ’, having highest sequence similarity of about 94–97 % with species of the genus Loktanella . None of the strains degraded gelatin, casein, chitin, agar, DNA or starch and they had limited ability to utilize carbon sources. The four pinkish strains, Fg36 T , Fg1, Fg116 and Fg117, degraded Tween 80. Sea-water strain R10SW5 T grew at 3–6 % NaCl and a temperature range of 8–35 °C, whilst strains Fg36 T , Fg1, Fg116 and Fg117 grew at NaCl concentrations of 1–12 % and a temperature range of 4–35 °C. Phosphatidylglycerol (58/79 %), diphosphatidylglycerol (11/6 %) and phosphatidylcholine (28/22 %) were the major phospholipids. The predominant fatty acids were 16 : 0 (12·2/8·6 %) and 18 : 1 7 (76·6/68·4 %). The DNA G+C content of strain R10SW5 T was 59·1 mol% and those of the four pinkish strains ranged from 60·5 to 61·8 mol%. Based on the results of phenotypic, genotypic, chemotaxonomic and phylogenetic investigation, two novel species, Loktanella agnita sp. nov. and Loktanella rosea sp. nov., are proposed. The type strains are R10SW5 T (=KMM 3788 T =CIP 107883 T ) and Fg36 T (=KMM 6003 T =CIP 107851 T =LMG 22534 T ), respectively. The GenBank/EMBL/DDBJ accession numbers for the 16S rRNA gene sequences of Loktanella agnita R10SW5 T and Loktanella rosea Fg36 T are AY682198 and AY682199 , respectively. A supplementary table showing the polar lipid and cellular fatty acid compositions of Lokt