Erythrobacter aquimixticola sp. nov., isolated from the junction between the ocean and a freshwater spring.

A Gram-stain-negative, aerobic, non-motile and coccoid, ovoid or rod-shaped bacterial strain, designated JSSK-14T, was isolated from the place where the ocean and a freshwater spring meet at Jeju island, South Korea. Strain JSSK-14T grew optimally at pH 7.0-8.0, at 30 °C and in the presence of 1.0-2.0 % (w/v) NaCl. A neighbour-joining phylogenetic tree based on 16S rRNA gene sequences showed that strain JSSK-14T fell within the clade comprising the type strains of species of the genus Erythrobacter. Strain JSSK-14T exhibited 16S rRNA gene sequence similarity values of 97.09-98.42 % to the type strains of Erythrobactergangjinensis, Erythrobacteratlanticus and Erythrobacterluteus and of 94.31-96.97 % to the type strains of the other species of the genus Erythrobacter. Strain JSSK-14T contained Q-10 as the predominant ubiquinone and C18 : 1ω7c as the major fatty acid. The major polar lipids of strain JSSK-14T were phosphatidylcholine, phosphatidylethanolamine, phosphatidylglycerol and sphingoglycolipid. The DNA G+C content of strain JSSK-14T was 63.5 mol%, and its mean DNA-DNA relatedness values with the type strains of Erythrobactergangjinensis, Erythrobacteratlanticus and Erythrobacterluteus were 13-25 %. Differential phenotypic properties, together with the phylogenetic and genetic distinctiveness, revealed that strain JSSK-14T is separated from recognized species of the genus Erythrobacter. On the basis of the data presented, strain JSSK-14T is considered to represent a novel species of the genus Erythrobacter, for which the name Erythrobacter aquimixticola sp. nov. is proposed. The type strain is JSSK-14T (=KCTC 52764T=NBRC 112765T).