Kocuria subflava sp. nov., isolated from marine sediment from the Indian Ocean

A novel Gram-staining positive, catalase-positive, oxidase-negative, aerobic, non-motile coccus, designated strain YIM 13062T, was isolated from a marine sediment sample collected from the Indian Ocean. Phylogenetic analysis based on 16S rRNA gene sequences showed that strain YIM 13062T belongs to the genus Kocuria, and is closely related to Kocuria polaris NBRC 103063T (97.8 % similarity), Kocuria rosea NBRC 3768T (97.6 % similarity) and Kocuria carniphila JCM 14118T (97.4 % similarity). The strain grew optimally at 28 °C, pH 8.0 and in the presence of 2–4 % (w/v) NaCl. Cell-wall peptidoglycan type was Lys–Ala3 (type A3α). The major isoprenoid quinones were MK-6(H2) and MK-7(H2). The polar lipids of strain YIM 13062T consisted of diphosphatidylglycerol (DPG), phosphatidylglycerol (PG), one unidentified phospholipid (PL), one unidentified aminophospholipid (APL), two unidentified aminolipids (AL) and four unidentified lipids (L). Major fatty acids of the novel isolate were anteiso-C15:0, iso-C14:0 and C18:1 2OH. The genomic DNA G+C content of strain YIM 13062T was 68.0 mol%. The level of DNA–DNA relatedness between strain YIM 13062T and K. polaris NBRC 103063T, K. rosea NBRC 3768T, K. carniphila JCM 14118T were 53.2, 48.8 and 42.6 %, respectively. On the basis of genotypic and phenotypic data, it is apparent that strain YIM 13062T represents a novel species of the genus Kocuria, for which the name Kocuria subflava sp. nov. is proposed. The type strain is YIM 13062T (=CGMCC 4.7252T=KCTC 39547T).