Sunxiuqinia rutila sp. nov., a new member of the phylum Bacteroidetes isolated from marine sediment.

A Gram-negative, facultatively anaerobic, pale-red-pigmented, non-motile, rod-shaped strain designated HG677(T) was isolated from a sediment sample collected at Nagasuka Fishery Harbor in Miyagi Prefecture, Japan. Phylogenetic analyses based on the 16S rRNA gene sequence revealed that the novel isolate was affiliated with the phylum Bacteroidetes and that it showed highest sequence similarity (97.2%) to Sunxiuqinia elliptica DQHS4(T). The hybridization values for DNA-DNA relatedness between the strains of HG677(T) and Sunxiuqinia elliptica DQHS4(T) were lower than 70%, which is accepted as the phylogenetic definition of a novel species. The DNA G+C content of strain HG677(T) was 47.5 mol%; MK-7 was the major menaquinone; and the presence of iso-C15：0 and iso-C17：0 3-OH as the major cellular fatty acids supported the identification of the novel isolate as a member of the genus Sunxiuqinia. A complex polar lipid profile was present consisting of phosphatidylethanolamine, unidentified phospholipids, an unidentified aminolipid and four unidentified lipids. From the distinct phylogenetic position and combination of genotypic and phenotypic characteristics, the strain is considered to represent a novel species for which the name Sunxiuqinia rutila sp. nov. is proposed. The type strain of Sunxiuqinia rutila is HG677(T) (= KCTC 32434(T) = NBRC 109919(T)).