Salinicoccus jeotgali sp. nov., isolated from jeotgal, a traditional Korean fermented seafood

Abstract

A novel, moderately halophilic, Gram-positive coccus, designated strain S2R53-5 T, was isolated from jeotgal, a traditional Korean fermented seafood. The organism was strictly aerobic, non-motile, non-sporulating and catalase- and oxidase-positive. Strain S2R53-5 T grew in the presence of 0.5-15% (w/v) NaCl and at pH 6.5-11.0, with optimum growth at 5% (w/v) NaCl and pH 7.0. The temperature range for growth was 20.0-30.0°C, with an optimum temperature of 30°C. Phylogenetic analysis based on 16S rRNA gene sequences indicated that strain S2R53-5 T belongs to the family Staphylococcaceae and was most closely related to Salinicoccus roseus DSM 5351 T (96.8% gene sequence similarity), Salinicoccus hispanicus DSM 5352 T (96.1%), Salinicoccus alkaliphilus T8 T (95.2%) and Jeotgalicoccus halotolerans YKJ-101 T (95.1%). The genomic DNA G + C content was 47.0 mol%, which is in the range of 46-51 mol% that is characteristic for the genus Salinicoccus. Levels of DNA-DNA relatedness between strain S2R53-5 T and S. roseus DSM 5351 T, S. hispanicus DSM 5352 T and S. alkaliphilus KCTC 13928 T were 32.2,15.4 and 4.6%, respectively. Chemotaxonomic data (major menaquinone, MK-6; major fatty acids, iso-C 15:o and anteiso-C 15:0; cell-wall murein type, Lys and Gly) and 16S rRNA gene sequence analysis supported the affiliation of strain S2R53-5 T with the genus Salinicoccus. The combined evidence from the low DNA-DNA relatedness, physiological, biochemical and other genotypic data indicate that strain S2R53-5 T clearly represents a novel species of the genus Salinicoccus, for which the name Salinicoccus jeotgali sp. nov. is proposed. The type strain is S2R53-5 T (=KCTC 13030 T = LMG 23640 T). © 2007 IUMS.