Sulfitobacter marinus sp. nov., isolated from seawater of the East Sea in Korea.

A Gram-negative, non-motile, rod- or oval-shaped Sulfitobacter-like bacterial strain, SW-265T, was isolated from seawater at Hwajinpo, Korea, and was subjected to a polyphasic taxonomic study. Strain SW-265T grew optimally at pH 7.0-8.0 and 30 degrees C in the presence of 2 % (w/v) NaCl. It contained Q-10 as the predominant ubiquinone and C(18 : 1)omega7c as the major fatty acid. The DNA G+C content was 57.8 mol%. A phylogenetic analysis based on 16S rRNA gene sequences showed that strain SW-265T fell within the cluster comprising Sulfitobacter species. The levels of 16S rRNA gene sequence similarity between strain SW-265T and the type strains of Sulfitobacter species ranged from 97.1 to 98.7 %. DNA-DNA relatedness data and differential phenotypic properties, together with the phylogenetic distinctiveness, demonstrated that strain SW-265T differs from recognized Sulfitobacter species. On the basis of the phenotypic, phylogenetic and genetic data, strain SW-265T represents a novel species of the genus Sulfitobacter, for which the name Sulfitobacter marinus sp. nov. is proposed. The type strain is SW-265T (=KCTC 12738T=JCM 13602T).