A Gram-negative, red-pigment-producing marine bacterial strain, designated S1-1, was isolated from the tidal flat sediment of the Yellow Sea, Korea. On the basis of phenotypic, phylogenetic, and genetic data, strain S1-1 (KCTC 11448BP) represented a new species of the genus Zooshikella. Thus, we propose the name Zooshikella rubidus sp. nov. Liquid chromatography and mass spectrometry of the red pigments produced by strain S1-1 revealed that the major metabolic compounds were prodigiosin and cycloprodigiosin. In addition, this organism produced six minor prodigiosin analogues, including two new structures that were previously unknown. To our knowledge, this is the first description of a microorganism that simultaneously produces prodigiosin and cycloprodigiosin as two major metabolites. Both prodigiosin and cycloprodigiosin showed antimicrobial activity against several microbial species. These bacteria were approximately 1.5-fold more sensitive to cycloprodigiosin than to prodigiosin. The metabolites also showed anticancer activity against human melanoma cells, which showed significantly more sensitivity to prodigiosin than to cycloprodigiosin. The secondary metabolite profiles of strain S1-1 and two reference bacterial strains were compared by liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry. Multivariate statistical analyses based on secondary metabolite profiles by liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry indicated that the metabolite profile of strain S1-1 could clearly be distinguished from those of two phylogenetically related, prodigiosin-producing bacterial strains.

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Two Gram-negative, motile, non-spore-forming bacterial strains, T and SW-369, were isolated from seawater from the East Sea, Korea, and their taxonomic positions were investigated by means of a polyphasic study. , 2002, 2006Romanenko et al., 2003). Here, we report on the taxonomic characterization of two Rheinheimera-like bacterial strains, SW-353 T and SW-369, which were isolated from seawater from the East Sea, Korea.Seawater collected at Hwajinpo, on the East Sea of Korea, was used as the source for the isolation of bacterial strains. Strains T and SW-369 were isolated by means of the standard dilution plating technique with marine agar 2216 (MA; Difco) at 30 u C. The type strains of three Rheinheimera species were used as reference strains for DNA-DNA hybridization: R. baltica LMG 21511 T and R. perlucida LMG 23581 T were obtained from the Laboratorium voor Microbiologie Universiteit Gent (LMG), Ghent, Belgium, and R. pacifica JCM 12090 T was obtained from the Japan Collection of Microorganisms (JCM), Saitama, Japan. The morphological, physiological and biochemical characteristics of strains T and SW-369 were investigated using routine cultivation on MA at 37 u C. Cell morphology was examined by light microscopy (E600; Nikon) and transmission electron microscopy. Transmission electron microscopy was also used to determine whether flagella were present in cells from exponentially growing cultures: for this purpose, cells were negatively stained with 1 % (w/v) phosphotungstic acid and the grids were examined (after being air-dried) with a Philips CM-20 transmission electron microscope. The Gram reaction was determined by using the bioMérieux Gram stain kit according to the manufacturer's instructions. The pH range for growth was determined in marine broth 2216 (MB; Difco) adjusted to various pH values (initial pH 4.5-10.5, using increments of 0.5 pH units). The pH was adjusted, prior to sterilization, to various levels by the addition of HCl or Na 2 CO 3 . Growth in the absence of NaCl was investigated using trypticase soy broth prepared according to the formula of the Difco medium except that no NaCl was used. Growth at various NaCl concentrations (0.5 %, w/v, and 1.0-10.0 %, w/v, using increments of 1.0 %) was investigated in MB and trypticaseThe GenBank/EMBL/DDBJ accession numbers for the 16S rRNA gene sequences of strains T and SW-369 are EF076757 and EF076758, respectively.The cellular fatty acid compositions of strains T and SW-369 are shown in a supplementary table available with the online version of this paper.1386

A new actinomycete strain, LM 042 T , which was isolated from a gold-mine cave in Kongju, Republic of Korea, is described by phenotypic and genotypic characters. The organism formed short chains of non-motile spores and globose bodies from substrate mycelium. An aerial mycelium was absent. This organism was chemotaxonomically characterized by the presence of mesodiaminopimelic acid, rhamnose, xylose, glucose, mannose and ribose in wholecell hydrolysates (a type II cell wall and a variant of sugar pattern D), a glycolyl type of muramic acid, DNA GMC content of 70 4 mol %, a type PII phospholipid pattern (phosphatidylethanolamine as a diagnostic nitrogenous phospholipid), a tetrahydrogenated menaquinone with 10 isoprene units as a major menaquinone, and fatty acid profiles predominated by iso-branched hexadecanoic acid, iso-branched pentadecanoic acid and heptadcenoic acid. A comparative analysis of 16S rDNA sequences indicated that this organism formed a distinct clade within the evolutionary radiation of the family Micromonosporac eae and clustered with members of the genus Catellatospora. The 16S rDNA similarity values between the isolate and its phylogenetic neighbours, the two subspecies of Catellatospora citrea and Catellatospora tsunoense, were 95 0-95 2 % and 94 9 %, respectively. An equidistant relationship was observed among the isolate, Catellatospora ferruginea and all other members of the Micromonosporac eae genera (levels of similarity 93 0-94 0 %). The combination of physiological, chemotaxonomic and DNA-DNA hybridization data supported that this organism is a novel species of the genus Catellatospora, for which the name Catellatospora koreensis sp. nov. is proposed. The type strain is LM 042 T (l IMSNU 50729 T ).

A Gram-staining-negative, non-spore-forming, facultatively anaerobic, non-flagellated, nongliding, rod-shaped bacterium, designated strain BR-18 T , was isolated from marine sand collected on the western coast of South Korea. The taxonomic position of the novel strain was determined using a polyphasic approach. Strain BR-18 T grew optimally at 25 6C, at pH 6.5-7.0 and in the absence of NaCl. In phylogenetic analyses based on 16S rRNA gene sequences, the novel strain fell within a clade comprising members of the genus Mucilaginibacter and appeared most closely related to Mucilaginibacter lutimaris BR-3 T (96.6 % sequence similarity) andMucilaginibacter rigui WPCB133 T (95.9 %). The novel strain showed lower levels of 16S rRNA gene sequence similarity with the type strains of other members of the genus Mucilaginibacter (93.4-95.5 %) and those of other species included in the phylogenetic analyses (,91.6 %). Strain BR-18 T contained MK-7 as its predominant menaquinone, summed feature 3 (C 16 : 1 v7cand/or iso-C 15 : 0 2-OH) and iso-C 15 : 0 as its major fatty acids, phosphatidylethanolamine and an unidentified aminophospholipid as its major polar lipids, and sphingolipids. The genomic DNA G+C content of the novel strain was 42.4 mol%. Based on the phylogenetic and phenotypic data, strain BR-18 T represents a novel species of the genus Mucilaginibacter, for which the name