Thalassobius aestuarii sp. nov., isolated from tidal flat sediment

A strictly aerobic, non-motile, ovoid-shaped Alphaproteobacteria, designated strain JC2049(T), was isolated from a tidal flat sediment sample. The results of 16S rRNA gene sequence analysis indicated that this isolate belonged to the genus Thalassobius, with a sequence similarity of 96.9-97.3% to other valid Thalassobius spp. The cells required 1-7% NaCl for growth (optimum 2%) and accumulated poly-beta-hydroxybutyrate. Nitrite was reduced to nitrogen, but nitrate was not reduced to nitrite. No genetic potential for aerobic anoxygenic photosynthesis was detected. The primary isoprenoid quinone (Ubiquinone-10), predominant cellular fatty acids (C(18:1)omega7c, 11 methyl C(18:1)omega7c and C(16:0)) and DNA G+C content (61 mol%) were all consistent with the assignment of this isolate to the genus Thalassobius. Several phenotypic characteristics clearly distinguished our isolate from other Thalassobius species. The degree of genomic relatedness between strain JC2049(T) and other Thalassobius species was in a range of 20-43%. The polyphasic data presented in this study indicates that our isolate should be classified as a novel species within the genus Thalassobius. The name Thalassobius aestuarii sp. nov. is therefore proposed for this isolate; the type strain is JC2049(T) (= IMSNU 14011(T) = KCTC 12049(T) = DSM 15283(T)).