Loktanella aestuariicola sp. nov., an alphaproteobacterium isolated from a tidal flat

A Gram-stain negative, aerobic, non-motile and coccoid, ovoid or rod-shaped bacterial strain, J-TF4^T, which was isolated from a tidal flat in the South Sea of South Korea, was characterized taxonomically. Strain J-TF4^T was found to grow optimally at 30 °C, at pH 7.0–8.0 and in presence of 2.0–3.0 % (w/v) NaCl. In the neighbour-joining phylogenetic tree based on 16S rRNA gene sequences, strain J-TF4^T fell within the clade comprising the type strains of Loktanella species, clustering with the type strains of Loktanellacinnabarina, Loktanellahongkongensis, Loktanellasoesokkakensis, Loktanella pyoseonensis and ‘Loktanellavariabilis’ showing sequence similarity values of 97.2–98.4 %. The strain exhibited 16S rRNA gene sequence similarity values of 94.1–95.4 % to the type strains of the other Loktanella species. Strain J-TF4^T was found to have Q-10 as the predominant ubiquinone and C_18:1ω7c as the major fatty acid. The major polar lipids of strain J-TF4^T were identified as phosphatidylcholine, phosphatidylglycerol, diphosphatidylglycerol, an unidentified glycolipid and an unidentified aminolipid. The DNA G+C content of strain J-TF4^T was determined to be 67.9 mol% and its mean DNA–DNA relatedness values with the type strains of five phylogenetically related Loktanella species were 17.7–23.3 %. Differential phenotypic properties, together with the phylogenetic and genetic data, demonstrate that strain J-TF4^T is separated from other Loktanella species. On the basis of the data presented, strain J-TF4^T is considered to represent a novel species of the genus Loktanella, for which the name Loktanella aestuariicola sp. nov. is proposed. The type strain is J-TF4^T (=KCTC 42135^T=NBRC 110408^T).