Marinobacter halotolerans sp nov., a halophilic bacterium isolated from a saltern crystallizing pond

A Gram-stain-negative, moderately halophilic, motile bacterium, designated strain CP12(T), was isolated from a crystallizing pond of a saltern of the Yellow Sea in Korea. Cells of strain CP12(T) were non-spore-forming rods and produced whitish-yellow colonies. Growth was observed at 10-37 degrees C (optimum 37 degrees C), at pH 6.0-9.0 (optimum pH 7.0), and in the presence of 0.5-20% (w/v) NaCl (optimum 3 %). Phylogenetic analysis based on the 16S rRNA gene sequence revealed that strain CP12(T) was closely related to Marinobacter flavimaris SW-145(T) (98.4% 16S rRNA gene sequence similarity), Marinobacter algicola DG893(T) (98.2 %), Marinobacter adhaerens HP15(T) (98.2 %), Marinobacter salsuginis SD-14B(T) (97.9 %), Marinobacter salarius R9SW1(T) (97.6 %) and Marinobacter lipolyticus SM19(T) (97.1 %). DNA-DNA hybridization studies showed values lower than 18.6% between strain CP12(T) and any of these species. The predominant respiratory isoprenoid quinone was ubiquinone-9 and the major cellular fatty acids of strain CP12(T) were C-16 : 0, C-12 : 0 3-OH, C-12 : 0, Summed feature 3, C-16 : 0 10-methyl and C-18 : 1 omega 9c. On the basis of phenotypic properties, and phylogenetic and chemotaxonomic data, it is evident that strain CP12(T) represents a novel species of the genus Marinobacter, for which the name Marinobacter halotolerans sp. nov. is proposed. The type strain is CP12(T) (= KACC 18381(T)=NBRC 110910(T)).