Halomonas marisflavae sp. nov., a halophilic bacterium isolated from the Yellow Sea in Korea

JH Yoon, SH Choi, KC Lee, YH Kho, KH Kang and YH Park Korea Research Institute of Bioscience and Biotechnology (KRIBB), PO Box 115, Yusong, Taejon, Korea A halophilic Gram-negative bacterial strain, SW32(T), which was isolated from a sample from the Yellow Sea of Korea, was subjected to a polyphasic taxonomic study. This organism grew optimally in the presence of 0.5--12% NaCl. On the basis of phenotypic and phylogenetic data, strain SW32(T) appeared to be a member of the genus Halomonas. Strain SW32(T) formed a distinct evolutionary lineage within the phylogenetic clade comprising Halomonas species and the genera Zymobacter and Carnimonas. The 16S rDNA sequence of strain SW32(T) contains 19 signature characteristics of the genus Halomonas and the family Halomonadaceae. Strain SW32(T) possessed a single polar flagellum, ubiquinone-9 as the predominant respiratory lipoquinone and C(18:1), C(16:0) and C(16:1) omega7c and/or iso-C(15:0) 2OH as the major fatty acids. The DNA G+C content was 59 mol%. Levels of 16S rDNA similarity between strain SW32(T) and the type strains of all validly described Halomonas species were 92.0--93.8%. Strain SW32(T) exhibited 16S rDNA similarity values of 92.7% to Zymobacter palmae IAM 14233(T) and 91.6% to Carnimonas nigrificans CECT 4437(T). These data indicate that strain SW32(T) was related enough to members of the genus Halomonas to be placed as a new species within that genus. Therefore the name Halomonas marisflavae sp. nov. is proposed for strain SW32(T). The type strain of the new species is strain SW32(T) (=KCCM 80003(T)=JCM 10873(T)).