Lewinella aurantiaca sp. nov., a carotenoid pigment-producing bacterium isolated from surface seawater

Abstract

A Gram-stain-negative, aerobic, rod-shaped, carotenoid-pigmented, motile-by-gliding bacterium, which was designated as SSH13(T), was isolated from a surface seawater sample collected from Sehwa Beach in the Republic of Korea. Strain SSH13(T) was oxidase-negative, catalase-positive and grew at 2-37 degrees C (optimum, 30 degrees C), in the presence of 0.5-6% NaCl and within a pH range of pH 6-10 (optimum, pH 8). The novel isolate required NaCl for growth and grew optimally with approximately 2 % NaCl. Chemotaxonomic and morphological characteristics were consistent with members of the genus Lewinella. Furthermore, phylogenetic analysis based on 16S rRNA gene sequencing revealed that strain SSH13(T) was most closely related to the type strains of the genus Lewinella. Strain SSH13(T) had highest 16S rRNA gene sequence similarities to Lewinella persica DSM 23188(T) (95.3%) and Lewinella agarilytica KCTC 12774(T) (95.0 %). The major fatty acids of SSH13(T) were summed feature 3 (C 16:1.7c and/ or C-16:1 omega 6c) and iso-C-15:0. Strain SSH13(T) contained phosphatidylethanolamine as a major polar lipid. Menaquinone-7 was the predominant respiratory quinone. The average nucleotide identity values between strain SSH13(T) and L. persica T-3(T) and L. agarilytica SST-19(T) were 72.9 and 72.6%, respectively. The DNA G+C content of the genomic DNA was 52.8 mol%. The present study aimed to determine the multiple-antibiotic resistance of the novel bacterium. Based on phylogenetic and phenotypic analyses, strain SSH13(T) is considered to represent a novel species of the genus Lewinella, for which the name Lewinella aurantiaca sp. nov. (type strain SSH13(T)=KACC 21167(T)=NBRC 113866(T)) is proposed.