Muricauda lutimaris sp. nov., isolated from a tidal flat of the Yellow Sea.

A Gram-negative, non-motile, rod-shaped bacterial strain, SMK-108(T), was isolated from a tidal flat of the Yellow Sea in Korea and was subjected to a polyphasic taxonomic investigation. Strain SMK-108(T) grew optimally at pH 7.0-8.0 and at 30 degrees C. It contained MK-6 as the predominant menaquinone. The major fatty acids were iso-C(17 : 0) 3-OH, iso-C(15 : 1) and iso-C(15 : 0). The DNA G+C content was 41.1 mol%. Comparative 16S rRNA gene sequence analysis showed that strain SMK-108(T) was related most closely to members of the genus Muricauda, exhibiting 96.6-98.8 % sequence similarity to the type strains of recognized Muricauda species. Strain SMK-108(T) was distinguishable from recognized Muricauda species on the basis of differential phenotypic characteristics, levels of DNA-DNA relatedness and phylogenetic distinctiveness. This organism is thus considered to represent a novel species of the genus Muricauda, for which the name Muricauda lutimaris sp. nov. is proposed. The type strain is SMK-108(T) (=KCTC 22173(T) =CCUG 55324(T)).