Hirschia litorea sp. nov., isolated from seashore sediment, and emended description of the genus Hirschia

A Gram-negative, non-spore-forming, non-flagellated, coccoid-, oval- or rod-shaped strain, designated M-M23^T, was isolated from seashore sediment at Geoje island, South Korea. Strain M-M23^T grew optimally at 25 °C, at pH 7.0-8.0 and in the presence of 2 % (w/v) NaCl. Phylogenetic trees based on 16S rRNA gene sequences revealed that strain M-M23^T clustered with the type strains of the two species of the genus Hirschia, with which it exhibited 97.6-98.1 % 16S rRNA gene sequence similarity. Sequence similarity with the type strains of other recognized species was <90.8 %. Strain M-M23^T contained Q-10 as the predominant ubiquinone and C_{18: 1}ω7c and C_{16: 0} as the major fatty acids. The major polar lipids of strain M-M23^T were phosphatidylglycerol and two unidentified lipids. The DNA G+C content of strain M-M23^T was 45.4 mol%. DNA-DNA relatedness between the isolate and Hirschia baltica DSM 5838^T and Hirschia maritima JCM 14974^T was 22±7.2 and 14±5.6 %, respectively. The differential phenotypic properties, together with the phylogenetic and genetic distinctiveness, revealed that strain M-M23^T is separate from the other described members of the genus Hirschia. On the basis of the data presented, strain M-M23^T is considered to represent a novel species of the genus Hirschia, for which the name Hirschia litorea sp. nov. is proposed. The type strain is M-M23^T (= KCTC 32081^T = CCUG 62793^T). An emended description of the genus Hirschia is also provided.