Salinicoccus qingdaonensis sp. nov., isolated from coastal seawater during a bloom of green algae

A novel Gram-stain-positive, white-pigmented, non-motile, non-sporulating, catalase- and oxidase-positive, strictly aerobic coccus, designated strain ZXM223(T), was isolated from a seawater sample collected from the coast of Qingdao, PR China, during a green algal bloom. It grew at pH 6.0-10.5 and 0-25.0% (w/v) NaCl, with optimum growth at pH 8.5 and 3.0% (w/v) NaCl. Growth occurred at 16-42 °C (optimum at 28 °C). The major fatty acids were anteiso-C(15:0) and iso-C(15:0). Menaquinone 6 (MK-6) was the major respiratory quinone. The polar lipids were phosphatidylglycerol, three unidentified phospholipids and two unknown glycolipids. The peptidoglycan type was L-Lys-Gly(5-6.) The genomic DNA G+C content was 43.5 mol%. Phylogenetic analysis of the 16S rRNA gene sequence placed strain ZXM223(T) within the genus Salinicoccus, with sequence similarity of 92.2-97.1% between ZXM223(T) and the type strains of this genus. The closest relatives were Salinicoccus kunmingensis YIM Y15(T), 'S. salitudinis' YIM-C678 and S. alkaliphilus T8(T). The DNA-DNA relatedness between strain ZXM223(T) and S. kunmingensis CGMCC 1.6302(T) and 'S. salitudinis' CGMCC 1.6299 (=YIM-C678) was 37±3 and 30±2%, respectively. The phenotypic, chemotaxonomic and phylogenetic characteristics and low DNA-DNA relatedness support the proposal of a novel species of the genus Salinicoccus, Salinicoccus qingdaonensis sp. nov., with the type strain ZXM223(T) (=LMG 24855(T) =CGMCC 1.8895(T)).