Planococcus salinarum sp. nov., isolated from a marine solar saltern, and emended description of the genus Planococcus

A Gram-positive, non-motile and coccoid-, short rod-or rod-shaped bacterial strain, ISL-16^T, was isolated from a marine solar saltern in Korea and its taxonomic position was investigated using a polyphasic taxonomic approach. Strain ISL-16^T grew optimally at pH 7.0-8.0, at 30 °C and in the presence of 2% (w/v) NaCl. Phylogenetic analysis based on 16S rRNA gene sequences showed that strain ISL-16^T joined the cluster comprising species of the genus Planococcus. Its 16S rRNA gene sequence contained the same signature nucleotides as those defined for the genus Planococcus. Strain ISL-16^T exhibited 16S rRNA gene sequence similarity values of 96.9-98.2% to the type strains of species of the genus Planococcus. Strain ISL-16^T contained MK-8 and MK-7 as the predominant menaquinones and anteiso-C_15:0, C_16:1ω7c alcohol and anteiso-C_17:0 as the major fatty acids. The DNA G+C content was 48.3 mol%. DNA-DNA relatedness values between strain ISL-16 ^T and the type strains of species of the genus Planococcus were 15-28%. Differential phenotypic properties, together with its phylogenetic and genetic distinctiveness, enabled strain ISL-16^T to be differentiated from recognized species of the genus Planococcus. On the basis of the data presented, strain ISL-16^T is considered to represent a novel species of the genus Planococcus, for which the name Planococcus salinarum sp. nov. is proposed. The type strain is ISL-16^T (=KCTC 13584^T=CCUG 57753^T). An emended description of the genus Planococcus is also given.