Sulfitobacter undariae sp. nov., isolated from a brown algae reservoir

A Gram-stain-negative, aerobic, non-spore-forming, non-flagellated and coccoid, ovoid or rodshaped bacterial strain, W-BA2 ^T, was isolated from a brown algae reservoir in Wando of South Korea. Strain W-BA2 ^T grew optimally at 25 6C, at pH 7.0-8.0 and in the presence of approximately 2.0-3.0 % (w/v) NaCl. Phylogenetic trees based on 16S rRNA gene sequences revealed that strain W-BA2^T fell within the clade comprising the type strains of species of the genus Sulfitobacter, clustering coherently with the type strains of Sulfitobacter donghicola and Sulfitobacter guttiformis showing sequence similarity values of 98.0-98.1 %. Sequence similarities to the type strains of the other species of the genus Sulfitobacter were 96.0-97.4 %. Strain W-BA2 ^T contained Q-10 as the predominant ubiquinone and C_{18 : 1}v7c as the major fatty acid. The major polar lipids of strain W-BA2 ^T were phosphatidylcholine, phosphatidylglycerol, phosphatidylethanolamine, one unidentified aminolipid and one unidentified lipid. The DNA G+C content of strain W-BA2 ^T was 55.0 mol% and its DNA-DNA relatedness values with the type strains of Sulfitobacter donghicola, Sulfitobacter guttiformis and Sulfitobacter mediterraneus were 16-23 %. The differential phenotypic properties, together with the phylogenetic and genetic distinctiveness, revealed that strain W-BA2 ^T is separated from other species of the genus Sulfitobacter. On the basis of the data presented, strain W-BA2^T is considered to represent a novel species of the genus Sulfitobacter, for which the name Sulfitobacter undariae sp. nov. is proposed. The type strain is W-BA2 ^T (5KCTC 42200^T 5NBRC 110523^T).