Gaetbulibacter saemankumensis gen. nov., sp. nov., a novel member of the family Flavobacteriaceae isolated from a tidal flat sediment in Korea

Korea Research Institute of Bioscience and Biotechnology (KRIBB), PO Box 115, Yusong, Taejon, South Korea Correspondence Jung-Hoon Yoon jhyoon{at}kribb.re.kr Three Gram-negative, yellow-pigmented, rod-shaped bacterial strains, SMK-12 T , SMK-36 and SMK-45, were isolated from a tidal flat sediment of the Yellow Sea in Korea, and their taxonomic positions were investigated by a polyphasic approach. The three strains grew optimally at 25–30 °C and in the presence of 2–3 % (w/v) NaCl. They contained MK-6 as the predominant menaquinone. The major cellular fatty acids were iso-C 15 : 0 , iso-C 17 : 0 3-OH, iso-C 15 : 1 , anteiso-C 15 : 0 , iso-C 15 : 0 3-OH and C 16 : 1 7 c and/or iso-C 15 : 0 2-OH. The DNA G+C contents of the three strains were 34·7–34·9 mol%. The phylogenetic tree based on 16S rRNA gene sequences revealed that the three strains form one distinct evolutionary lineage supported by a bootstrap value of 100 % within the family Flavobacteriaceae . The three strains exhibited 16S rRNA gene sequence similarity levels of 93·8–94·9 % to the nearest phylogenetic neighbours, the genera Algibacter , Bizionia and Formosa . On the basis of differences in phenotypic characteristics and phylogenetic distinctiveness, strains SMK-12 T , SMK-36 and SMK-45 were classified in a novel genus and species, for which the name Gaetbulibacter saemankumensis gen. nov., sp. nov. is proposed. The type strain for the novel species is SMK-12 T (=KCTC 12379 T =DSM 17032 T ). Abbreviations: FAME, fatty acid methyl ester Published online ahead of print on 22 April 2005 as DOI 10.1099/ijs.0.63738-0. The GenBank/EMBL/DDBJ accession numbers for the 16S rRNA gene sequences of strains SMK-12 T , SMK-36 and SMK-45 are AY883937 , AY883938 and AY883939 , respectively.