Kistimonas scapharcae sp. nov., isolated from a dead ark clam (Scapharca broughtonii), and emended description of the genus Kistimonas

A Gram-negative, motile, facultatively anaerobic rod, designated A36^T, was isolated from a dead ark clam found on the south coast of Korea. The isolate was catalase- and oxidase-negative. 16S rRNA gene sequence analysis indicated that strain A36^T was most closely related to Kistimonas asteriae KMD 001^T, with which it shared 98.2 % 16S rRNA gene sequence similarity. Strain A36^T grew optimally at 30-37 °C, with 1 % (w/v) NaCl and at pH 8.0. The major respiratory quinone was ubiquinone-9 (Q-9). The major polar lipids were phosphatidylserine, phosphoethanolamine, phosphatidylglycerol and diphosphatidylglycerol. The major fatty acids were summed feature 3 (comprising C_{16: 1}ω7c and/or iso-C₁₅ 2-OH) and C_{16: 0}. The genomic DNA G+C content was 47.3 mol%. DNA-DNA relatedness between the isolate and K. asteriae JCM 15607^T was <25±3 %. Strain A36^T represents a novel species of the genus Kistimonas, for which the name Kistimonas scapharcae sp. nov. is proposed. The type strain is A36^T (= KACC 16204^T = JCM 17805^T). An emended description of the genus Kistimonas is also provided.