Formosa undariae sp. nov., isolated from a reservoir containing the brown algae Undaria pinnatifida

A strain of Gram-staining-negative, aerobic, non-flagellated, non-gliding and rod-shaped bacteria, designated WS-MY3^T, was isolated from a brown algae reservoir in South Korea. Strain WS-MY3^T grew optimally at 25 °C, at pH 7.0-8.0 and in the presence of 2.0-3.0% (w/v) NaCl. Phylogenetic trees based on 16S rRNA gene sequences showed that strain WS-MY3^T fell within the cluster comprising the type strains of species of the genus Formosa, clustering coherently with the type strains of Formosa agariphila and Formosa algae. It exhibited 16S rRNA gene sequence similarity values of 98.7, 97.9 and 96.8% to the type strains of F. agariphila, F. algae and Formosa spongicola, respectively. Strain WS-MY3^T contained MK-6 as the predominant menaquinone and iso-C_{15: 0}, iso-C_{16: 0} 3-OH, iso-C_{15: 1} G and summed feature 3 (C_{16: 1} ω 7c and/or C_{16: 1} ω 6c) as the major fatty acids. The major polar lipids of strain WS-MY3^T were phosphatidylethanolamine and two unidentified lipids. The DNA G+C content of strain WS-MY3^T was 37.3 mol% and its DNA-DNA relatedness values with F. agariphila KCTC 12365^T and F. algae KCTC 12364^T were 23% and 17%, respectively. The phylogenetic and genetic distinctiveness and differential phenotypic properties revealed that strain WS-MY3^T is separate from the three recognized species of the genus Formosa. On the basis of the data presented, strain WS-MY3^T is considered to represent a novel species of the genus Formosa, for which the name Formosa undariae sp. nov. is proposed. The type strain is WS-MY3^T (5KCTC 32328^T5CECT 8286^T).