Formosa sediminum sp. nov., a starch-degrading bacterium isolated from marine sediment

A novel bacterium, designated strain PS13^T, was isolated from marine sediment collected from the coast of Jeju Island. Strain PS13^T was a Gram stain-negative, catalase- and oxidase-positive, aerobic, yellow-pigmented, motile by gliding, and rod-shaped bacterium. Strain PS13^T grew optimally at 25 °C and pH 8.0 and in the presence of 3 % (w/v) NaCl. Results of phylogenetic analysis based on 16S rRNA gene sequences showed that strain PS13^T belonged to the genus Formosa and was closely related to Formosa algae KMM3553^T (98.3 % sequence similarity). The DNA-DNA relatedness (17.3-21.8 %) and average nucleotide identity (83.6-84.6 %) values clearly indicated that strain PS13^T represents a distinct species of the genus Formosa. The major fatty acids were C_15 : 0 iso, C_16 : 1 ω6c/C_16 : 1 ω7c and C_15 : 1 iso G. The genomic DNA G+C content of the strain PS13^T was 32.2 mol%. On the basis of polyphasic characteristics, it is suggested that strain PS13^T be assigned to the genus Formosa as the type strain of a novel species, for which the name Formosa sediminum PS13^T (=KCCM 43301^T=CECT 9918^T) sp. nov. is proposed.