Blastopirellula cremea sp. nov., isolated from a dead ark clam

Strain LHWP2(T), a novel, aerobic, budding, motile and ovoid bacterium belonging to the phylum Planctomycetes, was isolated from a dead ark clam (Scapharca broughtonii) from the south coast of Korea. Strain LHWP2(T) grew optimally at 30 °C, in the presence of 4% (w/v) NaCl, and at pH 7. The predominant cellular fatty acids were C16:0, C18:1ω7c and/or C18:1ω6c (summed feature 8) and C18:1ω9c. The major isoprenoid quinone was menaquinone-6 (MK-6). The dominant polar lipid was identified as phosphatidylglycerol. Phylogenetic analysis based on 16S rRNA gene sequences indicated that the novel strain was most closely related to Blastopirellula marina DSM 3645(T), with a 16S rRNA gene sequence similarity of 94.1%. The genomic DNA G+C content of strain LHWP2(T) was 49.5 mol%. Strain LHWP2(T) was distinguished from B. marina DSM 3645(T) based on its optimum salinity, acid production from substrates, assimilation of substrates and DNA G+C content. Overall, these phenotypic, genotypic and phylogenetic data suggest that strain LHWP2(T) should be classified as a novel species belonging to the genus Blastopirellula, for which the name Blastopirellula cremea sp. nov. is proposed. The type strain is LHWP2(T) (=KACC 15559(T)=JCM 17758(T)).