Oceanobacillus gochujangensis sp. nov., isolated from gochujang a traditional Korean fermented food.

A Gram-stain-positive, polar flagella-containing, rod-shaped, obligate aerobic, endospore-forming bacterium, strain TK1655(T), was isolated from the traditional Korean food gochujang. The 16S rRNA sequence of strain TK1655(T) was a member of the genus Oceanobacillus similar to that of the type strain of Oceanobacillus oncorhynchi subsp. incaldanensis DSM 16557(T) (97.2%), O. oncorhynchi subsp. oncorhynchi JCM 12661(T) (97.1%), O. locisalsi KCTC 13253(T) (97.0%), and O. sojae JCM 15792(T) (96.9%). Strain TK1655(T) was oxidase and catalase positive. Colonies were circular, smooth, low convex, cream in colour, and measured about 0.5-1.0 mm in diameter. The range for growth was 20-40°C (optimal, 30°C), pH 6.0-10.0 (optimal, 7.0), and 2-16% (w/v) NaCl (optimal, 2%). Additionally, the cells contained meso-DAP, and the predominant isoprenoid quinone was MK-7. The complex polar lipids were consisted of diphosphatidylglycerol (DPG), phosphatidylglycerol (PG), phosphatidylcholine (PC). The major cellular fatty acid components were iso-C15:0, anteiso-C15:0, iso-C16:0, and anteiso-C17:0, and the DNA G+C content was 40.5%. DNA-DNA relatedness of our novel strain and reference strain O. locisalsi KCTC 13253(T), O. oncorhynchi subsp. incaldanensis DSM 16557(T), O. oncorhynchi subsp. oncorhynchi JCM 12661(T) was 45.7, 43.8, and 41.9%. From the results of phenotypic, chemotaxonomic, and phylogenetic analyses of strain TK1655(T), we propose the novel species Oceanobacillus gochujangensis sp. nov. The type strain is TK1655(T) (=KCCM 101304(T) =KCTC 33014(T) =CIP 110582(T) =NBRC 109637(T)).