Description of Gramella forsetii sp. nov., a marine Flavobacteriaceae isolated from North Sea water, and emended description of Gramella gaetbulicola Cho et al. 2011.

Strain KT0803 was isolated from coastal eutrophic surface waters of Helgoland Roads near the island of Helgoland, North Sea, Germany. The taxonomic position of the strain, previously known as 'Gramella forsetii' KT0803, was investigated by using a polyphasic approach. The strain was Gram-stain-negative, chemo-organotrophic, heterotrophic, strictly aerobic, oxidase- and catalase-positive, rod-shaped, motile by gliding and had orange-yellow carotenoid pigments, but was negative for flexirubin-type pigments. It grew optimally at 22-25 °C, at pH 7.5 and at a salinity between 2-3 %. Strain KT0803 hydrolysed the polysaccharides laminarin, alginate, pachyman and starch. The respiratory quinone was MK-6. Polar lipids comprised phosphatidylethanolamine, six unidentified lipids and two unidentified aminolipids. The predominant fatty acids were iso-C15 : 0, iso-C17 : 0 3-OH, C16 : 1ω7c and iso-C17 : 1ω7c, with smaller amounts of iso-C15 : 0 2-OH, C15 : 0, anteiso-C15 : 0 and C17 : 1ω6c. The G+C content of the genomic DNA was 36.6 mol%. The 16S rRNA gene sequence identities were 98.6 % with Gramella echinicola DSM 19838, 98.3 % with Gramella gaetbulicola DSM 23082, 98.1 % with Gramella aestuariivivens BG-MY13 and Gramella aquimixticola HJM-19, 98.0 % with Gramella lutea YJ019, 97.9 % with Gramella portivictoriae DSM 23547 and 96.9 % with Gramella marina KMM 6048. The DNA-DNA relatedness values were <35 % between strain KT0803 and type strains with >98.2 % 16S rRNA gene sequence identity. Based on the chemotaxonomic, phenotypic and genomic characteristics, strain KT0803 has been assigned to the genus Gramella, as Gramella forsetii sp. nov. The type strain is KT0803 (=DSM 17595=CGMCC 1.15422). An emended description of Gramella gaetbulicolaCho et al. 2011 is also proposed.