Gramella aquimixticola sp. nov., Isolated from water of an estuary environment

A Gram-stain-negative, aerobic, non-spore-forming bacterial strain, motile by gliding and with rod-shaped or ovoid cells, was isolated from water of an estuary environment at Hwajinpo, South Korea. The strain was designated HJM-19^T and subjected to a polyphasic taxonomic study. The novel strain grew optimally at 30 °C, at pH 7.0-8.0 and in the presence of 1.0-2.0% (w/v) NaCl. Phylogenetic trees based on 16S rRNA gene sequences revealed that strain HJM-19^T belongs to the genus Gramella. It exhibited 16S rRNA gene sequence similarity values of 97.2-98.1 % to the type strains of Gramella portivictoriae, Gramella aestuariivivens, Gramella marina, Gramella echinicola and Gramella aestuarii, and of 93.9-96.5% to the type strains of the other species of the genus Gramella with validly published names. Strain HJM-19^T contained MK-6 as the predominant menaquinone and anteiso-C_15:0, anteiso-C_17:1ω9c and C_17:0 2-OH as the major fatty acids. The major polar lipids of strain HJM-19^T were phosphatidylethanolamine and two unidentified lipids. The DNA G + C content of strain HJM-19^T was 48.0 mol%, and its DNA-DNA relatedness values with the type strains of the five phylogenetically closely related species of the genus Gramella were 11-23%. The differential phenotypic properties, together with the phylogenetic and genetic distinctiveness, revealed that strain HJM-19^T is separated from other species of the genus Gramella. On the basis of the data presented, strain HJM-19^T is considered to represent a novel species of the genus Gramella, for which the name Gramella aquimixticola sp. nov. is proposed. The type strain is HJM-19^T (= KCTC 42706^T=NBRC 111224^T).