Altererythrobacter aquaemixtae sp. Nov., isolated from the junction between the ocean and a freshwater spring

A Gram-stain-negative, aerobic, non-motile and ovoid or rod-shaped bacterial strain, designated JSSK-8^T, was isolated from the place where the ocean and a freshwater spring meet at Jeju Island, South Korea. Strain JSSK-8^T grew optimally at pH 7.0– 8.0, at 30 °C and in the presence of 2.0% (w/v) NaCl. In a neighbour-joining phylogenetic tree based on 16S rRNA gene sequences, strain JSSK-8^T fell within the clade comprising the type strains of species of the genus Altererythrobacter. Strain JSSK-8^T exhibited 16S rRNA gene sequence similarity values of 97.7 and 97.2% to the type strains of Altererythrobacter aestiaquae and Altererythrobacter luteolus, respectively, and of 93.5–96.2% to the type strains of the other species of the genus Altererythrobacter. Strain JSSK-8^T contained Q-10 as the predominant ubiquinone and C18: 1ω7c, summed feature 3 (C_{16: 1}ω6c and/or C_{16: 1}ω7c), C_{17: 1}ω6c, C_{16: 0} and 11-methyl C_{18: 1}ω7c as the major fatty acids. The major polar lipids detected in strain JSSK-8^T were phosphatidylcholine, phosphatidylethanolamine, phosphatidylglycerol and sphingoglycolipid. The DNA G+C content of strain JSSK-8^T was 59.0 mol%, and its mean DNA–DNA relatedness values with the type strains of A. aestiaquae and A. luteolus were 13 and 16 %, respectively. Differential phenotypic properties, together with the phylogenetic and genetic distinctiveness, revealed that strain JSSK-8^T is separated from recognized species of the genus Altererythrobacter. On the basis of the data presented, strain JSSK-8T is considered to represent a novel species of the genus Altererythrobacter, for which the name Altererythrobacter aquaemixtae sp. nov. is proposed. The type strain is JSSK-8^T (=KCTC 52763^T=NBRC 112764^T).