Sphingopyxis marina sp. nov. and Sphingopyxis litoris sp. nov., isolated from seawater.

Two yellow-pigmented, Gram-negative, aerobic bacterial strains, designated FR1087(T) and FR1093(T), were isolated from surface seawater off Jeju Island, Republic of Korea. Both strains required sea salts for growth. Phylogenetic analysis based on 16S rRNA gene sequences indicated that the two isolates belong to the genus Sphingopyxis, showing the highest level of sequence similarity with respect to Sphingopyxis flavimaris SW-151(T) (97.9 %). The two isolates shared 98.5 % sequence similarity. DNA-DNA hybridization between the isolates and the type strain of Sphingopyxis flavimaris clearly suggested that strains FR1087(T) and FR1093(T) represent two separate novel species in the genus Sphingopyxis. Several phenotypic characteristics served to differentiate these two isolates from recognized members of the genus Sphingopyxis. The data from the polyphasic study presented here indicated that strains FR1087(T) and FR1093(T) should be classified as representing novel species in the genus Sphingopyxis, for which the names Sphingopyxis marina sp. nov. and Sphingopyxis litoris sp. nov., respectively, are proposed. The type strain of Sphingopyxis marina sp. nov. is FR1087(T) (=IMSNU 14132(T)=KCTC 12763(T)=JCM 14161(T)) and the type strain of Sphingopyxis litoris sp. nov. is FR1093(T) (=IMSNU 14133(T)=KCTC 12764(T)=JCM 14162(T)).