Loktanella maricola sp nov., isolated from seawater of the East Sea in Korea

A Gram-negative, non-motile and rod-shaped Loktanella-like bacterial strain, DSW-18(T), was isolated from seawater of the East Sea, Korea, and its exact taxonomic position was investigated by using a polyphasic approach. Strain DSW-18(T) grew optimally at pH 7.0-8.0 and 25 degrees C in the presence of 2% (w/v) NaCl. It contained Q-10 as the predominant ubiquinone and C-18:1 omega 7c as the major fatty acid. The major polar lipids were phosphaticlylcholine, phosphaticlylglycerol and cliphosphaticlylglycerol. The DNA G+C content was 56.8 mol%. Phylogenetic analysis based on 16S rRNA gene sequences showed that strain DSW-18(T) fell within the cluster comprising Loktanella species. The levels of 16S rRNA gene sequence similarity between strain DSW-18(T) and the type strains of recognized Loktanella species ranged from 94.4 to 98.4%. The DNA-DNA relatedness data and differential phenotypic properties, together with the phylogenetic distinctiveness, demonstrated that strain IDSW-18(T) was distinguishable from recognized Loktanella species. On the basis of the phenotypic, phylogenetic and genetic data, strain DSW-18(T) represents a novel species of the genus Loktanella, for which the name Loktanella maricola sp. nov. is proposed. The type strain is DSW-18(T) (=KCTC 12863(T)=jCM 14564(T)).