Erythrobacter alti sp. nov., a marine alphaproteobacterium isolated from seawater.

A polyphasic taxonomic study was performed on strain KMU-34, which was isolated from seawater in the Republic of Korea. The bacterial cells were Gram-stain-negative, strictly aerobic, chemoheterotrophic, yellow-pigmented and rod-shaped. Phylogenetic analysis based on the 16S rRNA gene sequence indicated that the novel marine strain was affiliated with the family Erythrobacteraceae of the class Alphaproteobacteria and that it showed highest sequence similarity (98.6%) to Erythrobacter atlanticus s21-N3. The DNA-DNA relatedness values between strains KMU-34 and E. atlanticus KCTC 42697 were 8.6 ± 1.2%. The DNA G + C content of strain KMU-34 was determined to be 60.4 mol%. Ubiquinone 10 (Q-10) was the sole respiratory quinone. The predominant cellular fatty acids were C18:1 ω7c (43.8%) and C16:1 ω7c (16.8%). Strain KMU-34 had phosphatidylethanolamine, phosphatidylglycerol, phosphatidylcholine, a sphingoglycolipid, an unidentified phospholipid and two unidentified lipids as polar lipids. From the distinct phylogenetic position and combination of genotypic and phenotypic characteristics, the strain is considered to represent a novel species of the genus Erythrobacter for which the name Erythrobacter alti sp. nov. is proposed. The type strain of E. alti sp. nov. is KMU-34 (= KCCM 90261 = NBRC 111903).