A Gram-stain-negative, aerobic, non-flagellated and coccoid or ovoid bacterial strain, BSSL-BM11T, was isolated from sand of coastal dunes along the Yellow Sea of the Korean peninsula. Strain BSSL-BM11T grew optimally at 30 °C, at pH 7.0-8.0 and in the presence of 2.0-3.0 % (w/v) NaCl. Phylogenetic trees based on 16S rRNA gene sequences, the up-to-date bacterial core gene set and average amino acid identity (AAI) showed that strain BSSL-BM11T forms a cluster with the type strains of Tianweitania sediminis and Corticibacterium populi. Strain BSSL-BM11T showed 16S rRNA gene sequence similarities of 98.3 and 98.0 % to the type strains of T. sediminis and C. populi, respectively, and less than 96.4 % to the type strains of the other recognized species. The average nucleotide identity (ANI) and digital DNA-DNA hybridization (dDDH) values between strain BSSL-BM11T and the type strains of T. sediminis and C. populi were 77.0-84.8 % and 20.0-28.1 %, respectively. The 16S rRNA gene similarity, AAI, ANI and dDDH values between T. sediminis Z8T and C. populi KCTC 42249T were 98.0, 77.4, 76.7 and 20.1 %, respectively. The DNA G+C content of strain BSSL-BM11T from genomic sequence data was 61.3 mol%. Strain BSSL-BM11T contained Q-10 as the predominant ubiquinone and C18 : 1 ω7c, C16 : 0 and cyclo C19 : 0 ω8c as the major fatty acids. The major polar lipids of strain BSSL-BM11T were phosphatidylcholine, phosphatidylglycerol and phosphatidylethanolamine. Based on the polyphasic data, it is proposed that C, populi be reclassified as a member of the genus Tianweitania. Phenotypic and phylogenetic analyses revealed that strain BSSL-BM11T is separated from T. sediminis and C. populi. On the basis of the data presented here, strain BSSL-BM11T (=KACC 21634T=NBRC 114503T) is considered to represent a novel species of the genus Tianweitania, for which the name Tianweitania aestuarii sp. nov. is proposed.
Keywords: Tianweitania aestuarii; coastal dune; novel species; polyohasic taxonomy; reclassification.