Sediminilitoris sp. nov., isolated from a tidal flat

A Gram-stain-negative, aerobic, motile and rod-shaped or ovoid bacterial strain, designated YSM-23^T, was isolated from a tidal flat on the South Sea in South Korea, and subjected to a polyphasic taxonomic study. Strain YSM-23^T grew optimally at 30 _C, at pH 7.0–8.0 and in the presence of 1.0–2.0% (w/v) NaCl. The phylogenetic trees based on 16S rRNA gene sequences showed that strain YSM-23^T represented a member of the genus Colwellia. Strain YSM-23^T exhibited 16S rRNA gene sequence similarity values of 98.0, 97.4 and 97.3% to the type strains of Colwellia aestuarii, Colwellia polaris and Colwellia chukchiensis, respectively, and of 94.5–96.8% to the type strains of the other species of the genus Colwellia. Strain YSM-23^T contained Q-8 as the predominant ubiquinone and summed feature 3 (C_{16: 1}ω7c and/or C_{16: 1}ω6c) as the major fatty acid. The major polar lipids detected in strain YSM-23^T were phosphatidylglycerol and phosphatidylethanolamine. The DNA G+C content of strain YSM-23^T was 43.8±0.08 mol% and its DNA–DNA relatedness values with the type strain of C. aestuarii, C. polaris and C. chukchiensis were 10±3.5–22±4.9 %. Differential phenotypic properties, together with its phylogenetic and genetic distinctiveness, revealed that strain YSM-23^T is separated from species of the genus Colwellia with validly published names. On the basis of the data presented, strain YSM-23^T is considered to represent a novel species of the genus Colwellia, for which the name Colwellia sediminilitoris sp. nov. is proposed. The type strain is YSM-23^T (=KCTC 52213^T=NBRC 111994^T).