Colwellia sediminilitoris sp. nov., isolated from a tidal flat.

A Gram-stain-negative, aerobic, motile and rod-shaped or ovoid bacterial strain, designated YSM-23T, was isolated from a tidal flat on the South Sea in South Korea, and subjected to a polyphasic taxonomic study. Strain YSM-23T grew optimally at 30 °C, at pH 7.0-8.0 and in the presence of 1.0-2.0 % (w/v) NaCl. The phylogenetic trees based on 16S rRNA gene sequences showed that strain YSM-23T represented a member of the genus Colwellia. Strain YSM-23T exhibited 16S rRNA gene sequence similarity values of 98.0, 97.4 and 97.3 % to the type strains of Colwellia aestuarii, Colwellia polaris and Colwellia chukchiensis, respectively, and of 94.5-96.8 % to the type strains of the other species of the genus Colwellia. Strain YSM-23T contained Q-8 as the predominant ubiquinone and summed feature 3 (C16 : 1ω7c and/or C16 : 1ω6c) as the major fatty acid. The major polar lipids detected in strain YSM-23T were phosphatidylglycerol and phosphatidylethanolamine. The DNA G+C content of strain YSM-23T was 43.8±0.08 mol% and its DNA-DNA relatedness values with the type strain of C. aestuarii, C. polaris and C. chukchiensis were 10±3.5-22±4.9 %. Differential phenotypic properties, together with its phylogenetic and genetic distinctiveness, revealed that strain YSM-23T is separated from species of the genus Colwelliawith validly published names. On the basis of the data presented, strain YSM-23T is considered to represent a novel species of the genus Colwellia, for which the name Colwellia sediminilitoris sp. nov. is proposed. The type strain is YSM-23T (=KCTC 52213T=NBRC 111994T).