Neptunomonas concharum sp. nov., isolated from a dead ark clam, and emended description of the genus Neptunomonas.

A novel Gram-staining-negative, facultatively anaerobic, motile and rod-shaped bacterium, designated strain LHW37(T), was isolated from a dead ark clam collected on the south coast of Korea. The novel strain grew optimally at 37 °C, at pH 7.0-8.0 and with 2% (w/v) NaCl. The predominant cellular fatty acids were C(18:1)ω7c and summed feature 3 (C(16:1)ω7c and/or iso-C(15:0) 2-OH). The major isoprenoid quinone was ubiquinone-8 (Q-8) and the predominant polar lipids were phosphatidylethanolamine and phosphatidylglycerol. Phylogenetic analysis based on 16S rRNA gene sequences indicated that the novel strain was most closely related to Neptunomonas japonica JAMM 0745(T) (97.1% sequence similarity). The genomic DNA G+C content of strain LHW37(T) was 48.2 mol%. The DNA-DNA relatedness values recorded in hybridization experiments between the novel strain and its closest known relative were ≤ 18%. Based on the phenotypic, genotypic and phylogenetic data, strain LHW37(T) represents a novel species belonging to the genus Neptunomonas for which the name Neptunomonas concharum sp. nov. is proposed. The type strain is LHW37(T) (=KACC 15543(T) =JCM 17730(T)). An emended description of the genus Neptunomonas is also provided.