Sneathiella limimaris sp. nov., a marine alphaproteobacterium isolated from a tidal mudflat and emended description of the genus Sneathiella

A novel marine bacterium, designated strain GH1-24(T), was isolated from a tidal mudflat sample collected at Gangwha Island, Republic of Korea. Phylogenetic analysis based on 16S rRNA gene sequence comparison exhibited that the novel isolate was most closely related to Sneathiella and formed a tight cluster with Sneathiella glossodoripedis JCM 23214(T) with 98.1 % sequence similarity. The 16S rRNA gene sequence similarities to other Sneathiella species were low: Sneathiella chinensis LMG 23452(T) (96.1 %) and Sneathiellachungangensis CAU 1294(T) (95.8 %). Cells of the organism were Gram-reaction-negative, strictly aerobic, catalase- and oxidase-positive, motile rods and showed growth at 0.5-6 % NaCl, 20-42 degrees C and pH 6.0-8.0. The G+C content of the DNA was 54.9 mol%. The major isoprenoid quinone was Q-10. The major cellular fatty acids were C-18:1 omega 7c, C-16:0 and C(19:0)cyclo omega 8c. The polar lipids were phosphatidylethanolamine, phosphatidylglycerol and an unidentified aminophospholipid. The results of phenotypic and phylogenetic analyses and DNA-DNA relatedness studies suggest that the isolate can be a member of a novel species of the genus Sneathiella, for which the name Sneathiella limimaris sp. nov. is proposed. The type strain is GH1-24(T) (=KCTC 52846(T)=NBRC 113276(T))