Alteromonas litorea sp nov., a slightly halophilic bacterium isolated from an intertidal sediment of the Yellow Sea in Korea

A Gram-negative, motile, non-spore-forming, rod-shaped bacterium, designated strain TF-22(T) was isolated from an intertidal sediment in Korea. This organism grew optimally at 30-37 degreesC and in the presence of 2-5% (w/v) NaCl. It did not grow without NaCl or in the presence of more than 14% (w/v) NaCl. Strain TF-22(T) was characterized chemotaxonomically as having ubiquinone-8 as the predominant respiratory lipoquinone and C-16:0, C-16:1 omega7c and/or iso-C-15:0 2-OH and C-18:1 omega7c as the major fatty acids. The DNA G + C content of strain TF-22(T) was 46-0 mol%. Phylogenetic analyses based on 16S rDNA sequences showed that strain TF-22(T) falls within the gamma-subclass of the Proteobacteria and forms a coherent cluster with Alteromonas macleodii and Alteromonas marina. Levels of 1 6S rDNA similarity between strain TF-22 T and the type strains of two Alteromonas species were in the range 98-1-98-6%. The level of DNA-DNA relatedness between strain TF-22(T) and the type strains of two Alteromonas species was 15-7-18-5%. Therefore, on the basis of phenotypic properties, phylogeny and genomic distinctiveness, strain TF-22(T) should be placed in the genus Alteromonas as a novel species, for which the name Alteromonas litorea sp. nov. is proposed. The type strain is TF-22(T) (= KCCM 417 75(T)= JCM 12188(T)).