Litoreibacter ascidiaceicola sp. nov., isolated from the golden sea squirt Halocynthia aurantium

A Gram-stain-negative, aerobic, non-motile and coccoid, ovoid or rod-shaped bacterial strain, designated RSS4-C1^T, was isolated from a golden sea squirt (Halocynthia aurantium) collected from the East Sea, South Korea. The novel strain grew optimally at 25 °C, at pH 7.0-8.0 and in the presence of 1.0-3.0 % (w/v) NaCl. Phylogenetic trees based on 16S rRNA gene sequences revealed that strain RSS4-C1^T fell within the clade comprising the type strains of species of the genus Litoreibacter. Strain RSS4-C1^T exhibited the highest 16S rRNA gene sequence similarity (99.6 %) to the type strain of Litoreibacter albidus and sequence similarities of 96.5-98.5 % to type strains of other recognized species of the genus Litoreibacter. Strain RSS4-C1^T contained Q-10 as the predominant ubiquinone and C_{18: 1}ω7c and 11-methyl-C_{18: 1}ω7c as the major fatty acids. The major polar lipids of strain RSS4-C1^T were phosphatidylcholine, phosphatidylglycerol, phosphatidylethanolamine, one unidentified lipid and one unidentified aminolipid. The DNA G+C content of strain RSS4-C1^T was 58.0 mol% and its DNA-DNA relatedness values with type strains of four species of the genus Litoreibacter were 21-34 %. The differential phenotypic properties, together with phylogenetic and genetic distinctiveness, revealed that strain RSS4-C1^T is distinct from other species of the genus Litoreibacter. On the basis of the data presented, strain RSS4-C1^T is considered to represent a novel species of the genus Litoreibacter, for which the name Litoreibacter ascidiaceicola sp. nov. is proposed. The type strain is RSS4-C1^T (= KCTC 42050^T = CECT 8539^T).