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-4^T, was isolated from water of an estuary environment on the Yellow Sea, South Korea, and subjected to a polyphasic taxonomic study. Strain KEM-4^T 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-4^T 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-4^T contained Q-10 as the predominant ubiquinone and C_{18: 1ω}7c, summed feature 3 (C1_{6: 1ω}6c and/or C_{16: 1ω}7c) and C_{17: 1ω}6c as the major fatty acids. The major polar lipids were phosphatidylcholine, phosphatidylethanolamine, phosphatidylglycerol and sphingoglycolipid. The DNA G+C content of strain KEM-4^T was 59.5 mol%. Differential phenotypic properties, together with the phylogenetic distinctiveness, revealed that strain KEM-4^T is separated from species of the genus Altererythrobacter with validly published names. On the basis of the data presented, strain KEM-4^T 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-4^T (=KCTC 52259^T=NBRC 112305^T).