Two Gram-stain-negative bacterial strains, SM1969T and SM1979T, were isolated from coastal surface seawater of Qingdao, China. They were taxonomically characterized by the phylogenetic, genomic, chemotaxonomic and phenotypic analyses. The two strains shared 97.0% 16S rRNA gene sequence similarity with each other and the highest similarity (96.8-97.5%) with type strains of six species in the genera Shimia, Tritonibacter and Tropicibacter in the Roseobacter group of the family Rhodobacteraceae. In the phylogenetic tree based on single-copy orthologous clusters (OCs), both strains clustered with known species of the genus Tritonibacter and together formed a separate branch adjacent to Tritonibacter ulvae. Although sharing many chemotaxonomic and phenotypic characteristics, the two strains could be differentiated from each other and closely related species by numerous traits. Particularly, strain SM1969T was found to have a DMSP lyase coding gene dddW in its genome and have the ability to produce DMS from DMSP while strain SM1979T was not. The average nucleotide identity and in silico DNA-DNA hybridization values between strains SM1969T and SM1979T and type strains of closely related species were all below the thresholds to discriminate bacterial species, demonstrating that they constitute two new species in the genus Tritonibacter. The names Tritonibacter aquimaris sp. nov. and Tritonibacter litoralis sp. nov. are proposed for the two new species, with type strains being SM1969T (= MCCC 1K04320T = KCTC 72843T) and SM1979T (= MCCC 1K04321T = KCTC 72842T), respectively.
Keywords: DMSP lyases; Genomic sequencing and analysis; Polyphasic taxonomy; The Roseobacter group; Tritonibacter aquimaris sp. nov.; Tritonibacter litoralis sp. nov..