Meridianimarinicoccus marinus sp. nov., Isolated from Tidal Flat

A novel bacterial strain, designated DFM31^T, was isolated from a tidal flat in Gun-San, South Korea and characterized as a novel species within the genus Meridianimarinicoccus. Morphological and biochemical analyses indicated that strain DFM31^T was a Gram-stain-negative, coccoid-shaped bacterium without flagella. The strain formed pale orange colonies on MA after 3 days of incubation at 30 °C. The strain was found to survive at 20-37 °C (optimum, 30 °C), pH 6-8 (optimum, pH 7), and 0.5-5% (w/v) NaCl (optimum, 3%). 16S rRNA gene similarity analysis indicated that the strain DFM31^T was closely related to the genus Meridianimarinicoccus (95.1-97.5%). Biochemical tests showed that the strain was oxidase and catalase positive. The major fatty acids were Summed Feature 8 [C_18:1 $$ 7c/C_18:1 $$ 6c] (86.1%) and the major respiratory quinone was Q-10. The DNA G + C % of genomic DNA is 64.4. The values for Average amino acid (AAI), Average nucleotide identity (ANI), and DNA-DNA hybridization (DDH) compared with the related type strains in the genus Meridianimarinicoccus were 70.7-72%, 72.4-75.1%, and 18.7-19.2%, respectively. Based on its distinct phylogenetic, phenotypic, and biochemical characteristics, strain DFM31^T is proposed to represent a novel species of the genus Meridianimarinicoccus, for which the name Meridianimarinicoccus marinus sp. nov. is proposed. The type strain is DFM31^T (= KEMB 021938 ^T = KCTC 8650 ^T = JCM 37289 ^T).