Planococcus alkaliphilus sp. nov., a novel bacterium isolated from the sediments of Jiaozhou Bay, China

Strain 7D2-24^T, an alkali-tolerant bacterium isolated from coastal sediments of Jiaozhou Bay, China, belongs to the genus Planococcus. The strain was Gram-stain-positive, aerobic, motile and orange-pigmented. It was able to grow at 4-40 °C (optimum, 25-40 °C) and at pH 7.0-12.0 (optimum, pH 8.0-12.0). Phylogenetic analysis based on 16S rRNA gene sequences showed that strain 7D2-24^T formed a lineage within the genus Planococcus with the closest phylogenetic neighbour Planococcus ruber CCTCC AB 207187^T (98.39%). Digital DNA-DNA hybridization value and the average nt identity value of strain 7D2-24^T with P. ruber CGMCC 1.19134^T were 36.1 and 89.3%, respectively, falling below the species delineation thresholds of 70 and 95%. The genomic G+C content was 44.9 mol%. The predominant menaquinones were MK-7 (35.9%) and MK-8 (64.1%), and the major cellular fatty acids (>5% of the total) were anteiso-C_15:0 (39.2%), anteiso-C_17:0 (10.1%), iso-C_16:0 (8.7%) and iso-C_15:0 (5.6%). The major cellular polar lipids were diphosphatidylglycerol, phosphatidylglycerol, phosphatidylethanolamine, phosphoglycolipid and three unknown lipids. Based on phenotypic, phylogenetic and genotypic data, a novel species, Planococcus alkaliphilus sp. nov., is proposed with the type strain 7D2-24^T (=CGMCC 1.65191^T=KCTC 43862^T).