A Gram-stain-negative, motile, aerobic, rod-shaped bacterium with flagella, designated ZX-21T, was isolated from surface seawater of the East Sea in Zhoushan, China. Growth of strain ZX-21T was observed at 10--35 o°C (optimum, 30 °C), at pH 6.0-8.5 (pHoptimum 6.5-7.0) and in the presence of 0.5-8 % (w/v) NaCl (optimum 3-4 %). It was positive for oxidase and catalase activity. Phylogenetic analysis based on 16S rRNA gene sequences showed that strain ZX-21T constituted an independent lineage within the family Spongiibacteraceae and was most closely related to Zhongshania guokunii (96.83 %). Strain ZX-21T contained ubiquinone-8 (Q-8) as the sole isoprenoid quinone and summed feature 3 (C16 : 1ω77c and/or C16 : 1ω66c), summed feature 8 (C18 : 1ω77c and/or C18 : 1ω66c) and C16 : 0 as the major fatty acids. Phosphatidylglycerol (), phosphatidylethanolamine (), diphosphatidylglycerol () and an unidentified glycolipid were the major cellular polar lipids. The DNA G+C content was 49.1 mol%. Based on itsthe morphological, physiological and chemotaxonomic characteristics, strain ZX-21Tis described as a novel species in a novel genus for whichwith the name Marortus luteolus gen. nov., sp. nov. (type strain ZX-21T = MCCC 1K03431T=KCTC 62160T) is proposed.
Keywords: Marortus luteolus; Spongiibacteraceae; polyphasic taxonomy; seawater.