A Gram-stain-negative, aerobic, non-flagellated, non-gliding and short rod- or rod-shaped bacterial strain, designated BB-My20(T), was isolated from tidal flat sediment taken from the southern coast of Korea. Strain BB-My20(T) grew optimally at 37 degrees C, at pH 7.0-7.5 and in the presence of 2% (w/v) NaCl. A phylogenetic tree based on 16S rRNA gene sequences showed that strain BB-My20(T) fell within the clade comprising Salinimicrobium species, joining Salinimicrobium catena HY1(T), with which it had a 16S rRNA gene sequence similarity value of 97.4%. It exhibited 95.4-96.9% sequence similarity to the type strains of other members of the genus Salinimicrobium. Strain BB-My20(T) contained MK-6 as the predominant menaquinone and isc-C-15:0, anteiso-C-15:0 and iso-C-17:0 3-OH as the major fatty acids. The major polar lipids detected in strain BB-My20(T) and S. catena JCM 14015(T) were phosphatidylethanolamine and one unidentified lipid. The DNA G + C content of strain BB-My20(T) was 45.1 mol% and its mean DNA DNA relatedness value with S. catena JCM 14015(T) was 4.5%. Differential phenotypic properties, together with its phylogenetic and genetic distinctiveness, revealed that strain BB-My20(T) can be distinguished from the four recognized species of the genus Salinimicrobium. On the basis of the data presented, strain BB-My20(T) is considered to represent a novel species of the genus Salinimicrobium, for which the name Salinimicrobium gaetbulicola sp. nov. is proposed; the type strain is BB-My20(T) (=KCTC 23579(T)=CCUG 60898(T)).
