A novel Gram-staining positive, catalase-positive, oxidase-negative, aerobic, non-motile coccus, designated strain YIM 13062(T), was isolated from a marine sediment sample collected from the Indian Ocean. Phylogenetic analysis based on 16S rRNA gene sequences showed that strain YIM 13062(T) belongs to the genus Kocuria, and is closely related to Kocuria polaris NBRC 103063(T) (97.8 % similarity), Kocuria rosea NBRC 3768(T) (97.6 % similarity) and Kocuria carniphila JCM 14118(T) (97.4 % similarity). The strain grew optimally at 28 °C, pH 8.0 and in the presence of 2-4 % (w/v) NaCl. Cell-wall peptidoglycan type was Lys-Ala3 (type A3α). The major isoprenoid quinones were MK-6(H2) and MK-7(H2). The polar lipids of strain YIM 13062(T) consisted of diphosphatidylglycerol (DPG), phosphatidylglycerol (PG), one unidentified phospholipid (PL), one unidentified aminophospholipid (APL), two unidentified aminolipids (AL) and four unidentified lipids (L). Major fatty acids of the novel isolate were anteiso-C15:0, iso-C14:0 and C18:1 2OH. The genomic DNA G+C content of strain YIM 13062(T) was 68.0 mol%. The level of DNA-DNA relatedness between strain YIM 13062(T) and K. polaris NBRC 103063(T), K. rosea NBRC 3768(T), K. carniphila JCM 14118(T) were 53.2, 48.8 and 42.6 %, respectively. On the basis of genotypic and phenotypic data, it is apparent that strain YIM 13062(T) represents a novel species of the genus Kocuria, for which the name Kocuria subflava sp. nov. is proposed. The type strain is YIM 13062(T) (=CGMCC 4.7252(T)=KCTC 39547(T)).
Keywords: 16S rRNA gene; Indian Ocean; Kocuria subflava sp. nov.; Polyphasic taxonomy.