Psychroflexus Salinarum Sp. Nov., Isolated from a Marine Solar Saltern

A Gram-negative, non-motile and rod-shaped bacterial strain, ISL-14(T), was isolated from a marine solar saltern of the Yellow Sea, Korea, and its taxonomic position was investigated by a polyphasic study. Strain ISL-14(T) grew optimally at pH 7.0-8.0, 30 degrees C and in the presence of approximately 2 % (w/v) NaCl. It contained MK-6 as the predominant menaquinone and anteiso-C(15 : 0), iso-C(15 : 0) and iso-C(16 : 0) 3-OH as the major fatty acids. The DNA G+C content was 38.5 mol%. A phylogenetic analysis based on 16S rRNA gene sequences showed that strain ISL-14(T) belonged to the genus Psychroflexus. The levels of similarity between the 16S rRNA gene sequence of strain ISL-14(T) and those of the type strains of recognized Psychroflexus species were 95.8-96.8 %. On the basis of phenotypic, chemotaxonomic and phylogenetic data, strain ISL-14(T) represents a novel species within the genus Psychroflexus, for which the name Psychroflexus salinarum sp. nov. is proposed. The type strain is ISL-14(T) (=KCTC 22483(T)=CCUG 56752(T)).