Winogradskyella aquimaris sp. nov., isolated from seawater.

A Gram-negative, non-flagellated, motile by gliding, aerobic rod, designated DPG-24(T), was isolated from seawater of Geoje Island in the South Sea, Korea. Strain DPG-24(T) grew optimally at 30-37 °C, at pH 7.0-7.5 and with 2% (w/v) NaCl. Phylogenetic analysis based on 16S rRNA gene sequences showed that strain DPG-24(T) belonged to the genus Winogradskyella and clustered with Winogradskyella poriferorum UST030701-295(T) and Winogradskyella exilis 022-2-26(T). Strain DPG-24(T) exhibited 97.6 and 95.8% 16S rRNA gene sequence similarities with W. poriferorum UST030701-295(T) and W. exilis 022-2-26(T), respectively, and 92.4-95.7% with other members of the genus Winogradskyella. Strain DPG-24(T) contained MK-6 as the predominant menaquinone and iso-C(15:1) G, iso-C(15:0) and iso-C(17:0) 3-OH as the major fatty acids. The major polar lipids were phosphatidylethanolamine, one unidentified lipid, one unidentified aminolipid and one unidentified phospholipid. The DNA G+C content was 36.7 mol%. DNA-DNA relatedness between the isolate and W. poriferorum JCM 12885(T) was 10.8%. The differential phenotypic properties and phylogenetic and genetic distinctiveness enabled strain DPG-24(T) to be differentiated from recognized members of the genus Winogradskyella. On the basis of the data presented, strain DPG-24(T) is considered to represent a novel species of the genus Winogradskyella, for which the name Winogradskyella aquimaris sp. nov. is proposed; the type strain is DPG-24(T) ( = KCTC 23502(T)  = CCUG 60798(T)).