Lentibacillus salinarum sp. nov., isolated from a marine solar saltern in Korea

A Gram-positive, motile, moderately halophilic and rod-shaped bacterium, strain AHS-1(T), was isolated from a marine solar saltern in Korea, and its exact taxonomic position was investigated by use of a polyphasic study. Strain AHS-1(T) grew optimally at pH 6.5-7.0 and 37-40 degrees C in the presence of 10-12% (w/v) NaCl. Phylogenetic analyses based on 16S rRNA gene sequences indicated that strain AHS-1(T) belonged to the genus Lentibacillus. Strain AHS-1(T) exhibited a 16S rRNA gene sequence similarity value of 97.0% to the type strain of Lentibacillus salarius and values of 95.0-96.7% to the type strains of other recognized Lentibacillus species. Strain AHS-1(T) had cell-wall peptidoglycan based on meso-diaminopimelic acid. It contained MK-7 as the predominant menaquinone. The major fatty acids (>10% of total fatty acids) were anteiso-C(15:0) and anteiso-C(17:0), and the major polar lipids were phosphatidylglycerol, diphosphatidylglycerol and two unidentified glycolipids. The DNA G+C content was 49.0 mol%. Strain AHS-1(T) shared a mean level of DNA-DNA relatedness of 8.5% with L. salarius KCTC 3911(T). Strain AHS-1(T) could also be distinguished from recognized Lentibacillus species based on several phenotypic properties. On the basis of phenotypic, chemotaxonomic, phylogenetic and genetic data, strain AHS-1(T) is considered to represent a novel species of the genus Lentibacillus, for which the name Lentibacillus salinarum sp. nov. is proposed. The type strain is AHS-1(T) (=KCTC 13162(T)=CCUG 54822(T)).