Altererythrobacter confluentis sp. nov., isolated from water of an estuary environment.

A Gram-stain-negative, aerobic, non-motile and ovoid or rod-shaped bacterial strain, designated KEM-4T, was isolated from water of an estuary environment on the Yellow Sea, South Korea, and subjected to a polyphasic taxonomic study. Strain KEM-4T grew optimally at pH 7.0-8.0, at 30 °C and in the presence of 1.0-2.0 % (w/v) NaCl. The phylogenetic trees based on 16S rRNA gene sequences showed that strain KEM-4T fell within the clade comprising the type strains of species of the genus Altererythrobacter, clustering with the type strains of Altererythrobacter aestiaquae, Altererythrobacter gangjinensis and Altererythrobacter luteolus, showing 95.0-96.5 % sequence similarity. Sequences similarities to the type strains of the other species of the genus Altererythrobacter were 93.1-95.1 %. Strain KEM-4T contained Q-10 as the predominant ubiquinone and C18 : 1ω7c, summed feature 3 (C16 : 1ω6c and/or C16 : 1ω7c) and C17 : 1ω6c as the major fatty acids. The major polar lipids were phosphatidylcholine, phosphatidylethanolamine, phosphatidylglycerol and sphingoglycolipid. The DNA G+C content of strain KEM-4T was 59.5 mol%. Differential phenotypic properties, together with the phylogenetic distinctiveness, revealed that strain KEM-4T is separated from species of the genus Altererythrobacter with validly published names. On the basis of the data presented, strain KEM-4T is considered to represent a novel species of the genus Altererythrobacter, for which the name Altererythrobacter confluentissp. nov. is proposed. The type strain is KEM-4T (=KCTC 52259T=NBRC 112305T).