Leisingera nanhaiensis sp. nov., isolated from marine sediment.

An aerobic, Gram-staining-negative, motile, rod-shaped bacterium, strain NH52F(T), was isolated from a sandy sediment sample taken from the South China Sea. On M2 agar medium (a complex medium), colonies were beige in colour. The isolate showed highest 16S rRNA gene sequence similarities to members of the genera Leisingera (96.7 % similarity), Phaeobacter (95.4-96.0 %) and Marinovum (94.1 %). Phylogenetic analysis based on 16S rRNA gene sequences indicated that strain NH52F(T) formed a distinct cluster with Leisingera methylohalidivorans MB2(T) and Leisingera aquimarina LMG 24366(T). Optimal growth was observed at pH 7.0-8.5 and 25 degrees C and the new isolate required the presence of 1-4 % (w/v) NaCl. The major fatty acids were C(18 : 1)omega7c, C(16 : 0) 2-OH, C(10 : 0) 3-OH, C(12 : 0) 3-OH, C(16 : 0) and 11-methyl C(18 : 1)omega7c. The DNA G+C content was 60.5 mol%. The phylogenetic and chemotaxonomic characteristics of strain NH52F(T) were similar to those of the genus Leisingera. However, the differences in phenotypic properties and the 16S rRNA gene similarity values demonstrated that the new isolate differed from recognized species of the genus Leisingera. On the basis of phenotypic, chemotaxonomic and phylogenetic data, this organism should be classified as a representative of a novel species in the genus Leisingera, for which the name Leisingera nanhaiensis sp. nov. is proposed. The type strain is NH52F(T) (=LMG 24841(T)=CCTCC AB 208316(T)=MCCC 1A04178(T)).