Galbibacter mesophilus gen. nov., sp nov., a novel member of the family Flavobacteriaceae

A Gram-negative, yellow-pigmented, rod-shaped bacterial strain (Mok-17(T)) was isolated from marine sediment sampled in Okinawa Island, Japan. Based on analysis of the almost complete sequence of its 16S rRNA gene, strain Mok-17(T) was found to belong to the family Flavobacteriaceae. Strain Mok-17(T) showed highest 16S rRNA gene sequence similarity (91%) to Leeuwenhoekiella marinoflava and Robiginitalea biformata. In a phylogenetic tree based on the 16S rRNA gene, strain Mok-17(T) formed a deep branch distinct from all other organisms in the family Flavobacteriaceae. The major quinone was MK-6 and the major fatty acids were iso-15:0, iso-15:1, iso-17:0 3-OH and summed feature 3 (16:1 omega 7c and/or iso-15:0 2-OH). The DNA G + C content was 37 mol%. The phylogenetic distance to the type strains of all recognized species in the family Flavobacteriaceae and the phenotypic properties of strain Mok-17(T) supported its classification as representing a novel species in a new genus, for which the name Galbibacter mesophilus gen. nov., sp. nov. is proposed. The type strain is Mok-17(T) (=NBRC 101624(T)=CIP 109219(T)).