Loktanella maricola sp. nov., isolated from seawater of the East Sea in Korea

A Gram-negative, non-motile and rod-shaped Loktanella-like bacterial strain, DSW-18^T, was isolated from seawater of the East Sea, Korea, and its exact taxonomic position was investigated by using a polyphasic approach. Strain DSW-18^T grew optimally at pH 7.0-8.0 and 25, °C in the presence of 2% (w/v) NaCl. It contained Q-10 as the predominant ubiquinone and C_18:1ω7c as the major fatty acid. The major polar lipids were phosphatidylcholine, phosphatidylglycerol and diphosphatidylglycerol. The DNA G + C content was 56.8 mol%. Phylogenetic analysis based on 16S rRNA gene sequences showed that strain DSW-18^T fell within the cluster comprising Loktanella species. The levels of 16S rRNA gene sequence similarity between strain DSW-18^T and the type strains of recognized Loktanella species ranged from 94.4 to 98.40%. The DNA-DNA relatedness data and differential phenotypic properties, together with the phylogenetic distinctiveness, demonstrated that strain DSW-18^T was distinguishable from recognized Loktanella species. On the basis of the phenotypic, phylogenetic and genetic data, strain DSW-18^T represents a novel species of the genus Loktanella, for which the name Loktanella maricola sp. nov. is proposed. The type strain is DSW-18^T (=KCTC 12863^T=JCM 14564^T).