A Gram-stain-negative, non-spore-forming, non-motile and coccoid, ovoid or short rod-shaped bacterial strain, designated GHD-05T, was isolated from a tidal flat on the Yellow Sea in South Korea. Strain GHD-05T grew optimally at 30 °C, at pH 7.0-8.0 and in the presence of 2.0 % (w/v) NaCl. The phylogenetic trees based on 16S rRNA gene sequences showed that strain GHD-05T belonged to the genus Paracoccus, clustering with the type strain of Paracoccusaestuariivivens. Strain GHD-05T exhibited 16S rRNA gene sequence similarity values of 97.0-99.1 % to the type strains of Paracoccusaestuariivivens, Paracoccuslimosus, Paracoccuslaeviglucosivorans and Paracoccusmarinus, and of 94.2-96.9 % to the type strains of the other Paracoccus species. Strain GHD-05T contained Q-10 as the predominant ubiquinone and C18 : 1ω7c as the major fatty acid. The major polar lipids detected in strain GHD-05T were phosphatidylcholine, phosphatidylglycerol, diphosphatidylglycerol, one unidentified aminolipid and one unidentified glycolipid. The DNA G+C content of strain GHD-05T was 64.1 mol% and its DNA-DNA relatedness values with the type strains of P. aestuariivivens, Paracoccuslimosus, P. laeviglucosivorans and P. marinus were 13-32 %. Differential phenotypic properties, together with its phylogenetic and genetic distinctiveness, revealed that strain GHD-05T is separated from recognized Paracoccus species. On the basis of the data presented here, strain GHD-05T is considered to represent a novel species of the genus Paracoccus, for which the name Paracoccuslitorisediminis sp. nov. is proposed. The type strain is GHD-05T (=KCTC 52978T=NBRC 112902T).
Keywords: Paracoccus litorisediminis sp. nov; novel species; polyphasic taxonomy; tidal flat sediment.