Winogradskyella aquimaris sp. nov., isolated from seawater

A Gram-negative, non-flagellated, motile by gliding, aerobic rod, designated DPG-24^T, was isolated from seawater of Geoje Island in the South Sea, Korea. Strain DPG-24^T grew optimally at 30-37 °C, at pH 7.0-7.5 and with 2% (w/v) NaCl. Phylogenetic analysis based on 16S rRNA gene sequences showed that strain DPG-24T belonged to the genus Winogradskyella and clustered with Winogradskyella poriferorum UST030701-295^T and Winogradskyella exilis 022- 2-26^T. Strain DPG-24^T exhibited 97.6 and 95.8% 16S rRNA gene sequence similarities with W. poriferorum UST030701-295^T and W. exilis 022-2-26^T, respectively, and 92.4-95.7% with other members of the genus Winogradskyella. Strain DPG-24^T contained MK-6 as the predominant menaquinone and iso-C₁₅: 1 G, iso-C_{15: 0} and iso-C_{17: 0} 3-OH as the major fatty acids. The major polar lipids were phosphatidylethanolamine, one unidentified lipid, one unidentified aminolipid and one unidentified phospholipid. The DNA G+C content was 36.7 mol%. DNA-DNA relatedness between the isolate and W. poriferorum JCM 12885T was 10.8 %. The differential phenotypic properties and phylogenetic and genetic distinctiveness enabled strain DPG-24T to be differentiated from recognized members of the genus Winogradskyella. On the basis of the data presented, strain DPG-24^T is considered to represent a novel species of the genus Winogradskyella, for which the name Winogradskyella aquimaris sp. nov. is proposed; the type strain is DPG-24^T (5KC^TC 23502^T 5CCUG 60798^T).