Maribius pontilimi sp. nov., isolated from a tidal mudflat.

A novel marine Gram-negative bacterium, designated strain GH1-23, was isolated from a tidal mudflat sample collected at Dongmak seashore on Gangwha Island, Republic of Korea and its taxonomic position was determined through a polyphasic investigation. The bacterium was strictly aerobic, chemoheterotrophic, catalase- and oxidase-positive, consisted of non-motile rods and grew optimally at 30 °C, pH 7 and 1 % NaCl. The predominant cellular fatty acids were C18 : 1ω7c and cyclo-C19 : 0ω8c. The major isoprenoid quinone was Q-10. The major polar lipids were phosphatidylglycerol, a phosphoglycolipid and an aminolipid. Comparative 16S rRNA gene sequence analysis revealed that the isolate was closely related to members of the genus Maribius. The highest 16S rRNA gene sequence similarity was found to be 97.5 % to Maribius salinus followed by 97.4 % to Maribius pelagius; levels of 16S rRNA gene sequence similarity between the novel strain and other representatives of family Rhodobacteraceae were <95.5 %. The DNA G+C content was 66.7 mol % and DNA-DNA relatedness values with the type strains of species of the genus Maribius were 33-39 %. Based on combined data from a polyphasic investigation, strain GH1-23 (=KCTC 52957=DSM 104950) represents a novel species of the genus Maribius, for which the name Maribius pontilimi sp. nov. is proposed.