Flavobacterium maris sp. nov. isolated from shallow sediments of the Sea of Japan.

An aerobic, gram-negative, yellow-pigmented, and non-motile bacterium designated KMM 9535(T) was isolated from a marine sediment sample obtained from the Sea of Japan seashore and subjected to a phylogenetic and phenotypic study. On the basis of 16S rRNA gene sequence analysis, strain KMM 9535(T) was placed to the genus Flavobacterium sharing the highest sequence similarities to Flavobacterium ahnfeltiae KCTC 32467(T) (99.3%), Flavobacterium jumunjinense KCTC 23618(T) (96.5%), Flavobacterium ponti KCTC 22802(T) (96.3%), Flavobacterium urocaniciphilum JCM 19142(T) (96.1%), and Flavobacterium gelidilacus LMG 21477(T) (95.8%). The DNA-DNA hybridization value between strain KMM 9535(T) and the closest related F. ahnfeltiae KCTC 32467(T) was 33%. Strain KMM 9535(T) grew at 5-36 °C and in the presence of 0-3% (w/v) NaCl. It contained MK-6 as the predominant menaquinone, and the major fatty acids were iso-C15:0, iso-C17:1, iso-C15:1, and iso-C17:0 3-OH. The DNA G+C content was 28.8 mol%. On the basis of the results obtained, it is proposed strain KMM 9535(T) to be classified as a novel species of the genus Flavobacterium, Flavobacterium maris sp. nov., with the type strain of the species KMM 9535(T) (=NRIC 0920(T) = KCTC 42093(T)).