Planococcus salinarum sp. nov., isolated from a marine solar saltern, and emended description of the genus Planococcus.

A Gram-positive, non-motile and coccoid-, short rod- or rod-shaped bacterial strain, ISL-16(T), was isolated from a marine solar saltern in Korea and its taxonomic position was investigated using a polyphasic taxonomic approach. Strain ISL-16(T) grew optimally at pH 7.0-8.0, at 30 degrees C and in the presence of 2 % (w/v) NaCl. Phylogenetic analysis based on 16S rRNA gene sequences showed that strain ISL-16(T) joined the cluster comprising species of the genus Planococcus. Its 16S rRNA gene sequence contained the same signature nucleotides as those defined for the genus Planococcus. Strain ISL-16(T) exhibited 16S rRNA gene sequence similarity values of 96.9-98.2 % to the type strains of species of the genus Planococcus. Strain ISL-16(T) contained MK-8 and MK-7 as the predominant menaquinones and anteiso-C(15 : 0), C(16 : 1)omega7c alcohol and anteiso-C(17 : 0) as the major fatty acids. The DNA G+C content was 48.3 mol%. DNA-DNA relatedness values between strain ISL-16(T) and the type strains of species of the genus Planococcus were 15-28 %. Differential phenotypic properties, together with its phylogenetic and genetic distinctiveness, enabled strain ISL-16(T) to be differentiated from recognized species of the genus Planococcus. On the basis of the data presented, strain ISL-16(T) is considered to represent a novel species of the genus Planococcus, for which the name Planococcus salinarum sp. nov. is proposed. The type strain is ISL-16(T) (=KCTC 13584(T)=CCUG 57753(T)). An emended description of the genus Planococcus is also given.