Paracoccus homiensis sp. nov., isolated from a sea-sand sample.

Strain DD-R11(T), isolated from a sea-sand sample from Homi Cape, Pohang city, South Korea, was a Gram-negative, aerobic, motile, non-spore-forming, rod- to ovoid-shaped bacterium. Colonies grown on marine agar were circular, convex and colourless to creamy white. Growth occurred between 10 and 40 degrees C (optimum 25-30 degrees C) and at pH 5.0-9.0 (optimum pH 6.0-8.0). The strain could grow in up to 15 % NaCl (optimum 3-5 % NaCl). According to 16S rRNA gene sequence analysis, the strain was a member of the genus Paracoccus in the Alphaproteobacteria. Sequence similarities to type strains of the genus Paracoccus were between 94.6 and 98.3 %, showing the highest sequence similarity to Paracoccus zeaxanthinifaciens ATCC 21588(T). The DNA-DNA relatedness value of strain DD-R11(T) and P. zeaxanthinifaciens ATCC 21588(T) was 27 %. Strain DD-R11(T) was characterized by having ubiquinone 10 as the major respiratory quinone and C(18 : 1)omega7c as the predominant fatty acid. The DNA G+C content was 63.0 mol%. On the basis of its phenotypic and genotypic characteristics, it is suggested that DD-R11(T) represents a novel species of the genus Paracoccus, for which the name Paracoccus homiensis sp. nov. is proposed, with DD-R11(T) (=KACC 11518(T)=DSM 17862(T)) as the type strain.