Deinococcus arenae sp. nov., a novel species isolated from sand in South Korea

A Gram-negative strain, designated SA1^T, was isolated from a sand specimen from Yangyang Beach, South Korea. The cells of SA1^T were observed to be red pigmented, strictly aerobic, non-motile rods. Strain SA1^T was found to grow optimally at 30 °C and pH 7 (pH growth range, pH 7–9). Phylogenetic analyses of the 16S rRNA gene sequence of SA1^T showed that the organism belongs to the phylum Deinococcus-Thermus and forms a branch within the genus Deinococcus, with Deinococcus actinosclerus BM2^T as a close relative (99.8 % sequence similarity). The strain was found to be catalase positive and oxidase negative and to metabolise 2-ketogluconate, acetate, d,l-3-hydroxybutyrate, d-glucose, d-maltose, d-mannitol, d-mannose, d-melibiose, d-sorbitol, d-sucrose, glycogen, l-alanine, l-histidine, l-malate, l-proline and n-valerate. The guanine plus cytosine (G + C) base composition of the DNA was 69.5 mol %, as determined by the thermal denaturation method. The predominant respiratory quinone was identified as menaquinone with eight isoprene units (MK-8). The polar lipid profile of strain SA1^T showed the presence of several unidentified glycolipids, phosphoglycolipids, phospholipids, aminophospholipids and unidentified lipids. In addition, the most abundant fatty acids of strain SA1^T were identified as C_15:1ω6c, C_16:1ω7c and C_17:0. On the basis of phylogenetic analyses, DNA–DNA hybridisation and biochemical characteristics, strain SA1^T (=KCTC 33741^T = JCM 31047^T) is concluded to represent a novel species of the genus Deinococcus, for which the name Deinococcus arenae sp. nov. is proposed.