Litorilituus Lipolyticus Sp. Nov., Isolated from Intertidal Sand of the Yellow Sea in China, and Emended Description of Colwellia Asteriadis

A Gram-stain negative, rod-shaped, aerobic, oxidase-positive and catalase-weakly positive bacterial strain with polar or subpolar flagellum, designated RZ04, was isolated from an intertidal sand sample collected from a coastal area of the Yellow Sea, China. The organism was observed to grow optimally at 25 °C and pH 6.5-7.0 with 2% (w/v) NaCl. Phylogenetic analysis based on 16S rRNA gene sequences revealed that strain RZ04 was closely related to Colwellia asteriadis (similarity 96.9%) and Litorilituus sediminis (similarity 96.8%), and 94.4-96.4% sequence similarities to other type strains of species of the genera belonged to the family Colwelliaceae. The dominant fatty acids of strain RZ04 were determined to be Cω8c, Cω8c, C and summed feature 3 (Cω6c and/or Cω7c), and the predominant isoprenoid quinone was determined to be quinone 8 (Q-8). Phosphatidylethanolamine, phosphatidylglycerol, an unidentified aminophospholipid and four unidentified lipids were determined to be the major constituents of the polar lipids. The genome of strain RZ04 is 4.14 Mbp with a G + C content of 37.4 mol%. A total of 3631 genes are predicted, with 3531 protein-coding genes, 75 RNA genes and 25 pseudogenes. Based on phenotypic, genotypic and phylogenetic analysis, strain RZ04 is considered to represent a novel species in the genus Litorilituus, for which the name Litorilituus lipolyticus is proposed. The type strain is RZ04 (= MCCC 1K03616 = KCTC 62835). An emended description of Colwellia asteriadis is also provided.