Leeuwenhoekiella palythoae sp. nov., a new member of the family Flavobacteriaceae.

The taxonomic status of a novel, heterotrophic, strictly aerobic, gliding and yellow-orange-pigmented bacterium (strain KMM 6264(T)), associated with the coral Palythoa, was determined. The 16S rRNA gene sequence analysis indicated that strain KMM 6264(T) clustered with the recognized species of the genus Leeuwenhoekiella of the family Flavobacteriaceae with 96.4-98.2 % sequence similarity. DNA-DNA reassociation levels between the isolate and the type strains of Leeuwenhoekiella species were 15-22 %. The DNA G+C content was 41.2 mol%. The phylogenetic evidence and the results of genomic and phenotypic analyses showed that the isolate should be classified as a member of a novel species of the genus Leeuwenhoekiella, for which the name Leeuwenhoekiella palythoae sp. nov. is proposed. The type strain is KMM 6264(T) (=KCTC 22020(T)=LMG 24856(T)).