Sinimarinibacterium flocculans gen. nov., sp. nov., a gammaproteobacterium from offshore surface seawater.

Two aerobic, rod-shaped, non-motile, non-sporulating and Gram-staining-negative bacterial strains, namely NH6-24T and Za3-11, were isolated from the surface seawater of the South China Sea and the estuary of the Yangtze River, respectively. The two isolates grew at 14–44 °C (optimum 37–40 °C) and pH 6.0–8.5 (optimum pH 7.0–7.5). The sea salt ranges for growth were 0.5–10 % (w/v) (optimum 1–2.5 %) for strain NH6-24T and 0–12 % (w/v) (optimum 0.5–4.5 %) for strain Za3-11.Both strains could grow in the absence of NaCl. Results of phylogenetic analysis based on 16S rRNA gene sequences indicated that the two isolates showed closest affinity to the genera Fontimonas (96.0 %) and Solimonas (94.1–95.1 %) and formed a single lineage in the cluster of the family Solimonadaceae. The predominant isoprenoid quinone was ubiquinone-8.The major fatty acids were C18 : 1ω7c, iso-C16 : 0 and C16 : 0.The dominant polar lipids were diphosphatidylglycerol, phosphatidylglycerol and phosphatidylethanolamine. The DNA G+C content was 65 mol%. Based on the polyphasic taxonomic characterization, strains NH6-24T and Za3-11 are considered to represent a novel species of a novel genus, for which the name Sinimarinibacterium flocculans gen. nov., sp. nov. is proposed. The type strain of the type species is NH6-24T ( = CGMCC 1.10815T = JCM 17607T) and an additional strain is Za3-11 ( = CGMCC 1.10816 = JCM 17606).