Lutibacter litorisediminis sp. nov., isolated from a tidal flat

A Gram-stain-negative, non-motile, aerobic and rod-shaped bacterium, designated OITF-20^T, was isolated from the tidal flat in Oido, an island of South Korea. The novel strain grew optimally at 25 °C, at pH 7.0-8.0 and in the presence of 1.0-2.0% (w/v) NaCl. In the neighbour-joining phylogenetic tree based on 16S rRNA gene sequences, strain OITF-20^T fell within the clade comprising the type strains of species of the genus Lutibacter. Strain OITF-20^T exhibited 16S rRNA gene sequence similarity values of 97.8, 97.6 and 97.6% to the type strains of Lutibacter crassostreae, Lutibacter flavus and Lutibacter litoralis, respectively, of 94.9-96.8% to the type strains of the other species of the genus Lutibacter and of less than 93.4% to the type strains of the other recognized species. Strain OITF-20^T contained MK-6 as the predominant menaquinone and iso- C_{15: 0} 3-OH, C_{15: 1}ω6c and iso-C_{15: 0} as the major fatty acids. The major polar lipids of strain OITF-20^T were phosphatidylethanolamine and one unidentified lipid. The DNA G+C content of strain OITF-20^T was 31.1 mol% and its mean DNA-DNA relatedness values with the type strains of L. crassostreae, L. flavus and L. litoralis were 17-27 %. The differential phenotypic properties, together with phylogenetic and genetic distinctiveness, revealed that strain OITF-20^T is separated from other recognized species of the genus Lutibacter. On the basis of the data presented, strain OITF-20^T is considered to represent a novel species of the genus Lutibacter, for which the name Lutibacter litorisediminis sp. nov. is proposed. The type strain is OITF-20^T (=KCTC 52501^T=NBRC 112458^T).