Albimonas donghaensis gen. nov., sp. nov., a non-photosynthetic member of the class Alphaproteobacteria isolated from seawater.

A moderately halophilic Gram-negative bacterium, strain DS2(T), was isolated from seawater from the East Sea in Korea. Strain DS2(T) grew at salinities of 0-14% (w/v) NaCl and at temperatures in the range 10-38 degrees C. The cells were non-motile short rods (1.0-1.4 microm in width and 1.6-2.6 microm in length) and the major fatty acids were C(18:1)omega7c and 11-methyl C(18:1)omega7c. The genomic DNA G+C content was 72.0 mol% and the predominant lipoquinone was Q-10. The major cellular phospholipids were phosphatidylglycerol, diphosphatidylglycerol, phosphatidylethanolamine and phosphatidylcholine. Phylogenetic analyses based on 16S rRNA gene sequences showed that strain DS2(T) formed a distinct phyletic line from the genus Rubrimonas within the Alphaproteobacteria. The levels of 16S rRNA gene sequence similarity with respect to the type strains of related genera were below 94%. On the basis of physiological and phylogenetic properties, strain DS2(T) represents a novel genus and species of the Alphaproteobacteria, for which the name Albimonas donghaensis gen. nov., sp. nov. is proposed. The type strain is DS2(T) (=KCTC 12586(T)=DSM 17890(T)).