1984 Volume 30 Issue 6 Pages 449-459
Ten strains designated as Planococcus halophilus, three strains of Planococcus sp. Group III, and an unidentified motile coccus were studied taxonomically. They all had meso-diaminopimelic acid in the cell wall, DNA base composition ranging between 43.9 to 46.6%, menaquinone systems with MK-7, and growth at a concentration of 20% of sodium chloride. These characteristics differ significantly from those of the type species (Planococcus citreus) of the genus Planococcus. Therefore, we regard these strains as belonging to a new genus, and propose the genus Marinococcus for such bacteria. Two species are recognized in this genus, Marinococcus albus sp. nov. and Marinococcus halophilus (Novitsky and Kushner) comb. nov. They differ from each other in colony pigmentation, oxidase, urease, extracellular DNase, nitrate reduction, hydrolysis of gelatin, casein and esculin, and production of acid from glucose and some other sugars. Marinococcus halophilus comb. nov. is the type species of the genus Marinococcus. Strain HK 718 (=CCM 2706, Czechoslovak Collection of Microorganisms, Brno, Czechoslovakia=IAM 12844, Institute of Applied Microbiology, University of Tokyo, Japan=JCM 2479, Japan Collection of Microorganisms, Wako, Japan) is the type strain of M. halophilus, and strain HK 733 (=CCM 3517=IAM 12845=JCM 2574) is the type strain of Marinococcus albus.
