Marinicola apigmenta gen. nov., sp. nov., a marine bacterium isolated from a sponge-associated seaweed of the East Sea of Korea.

Abstract

A novel psychrotrophic bacterium, strain HJ105T, was isolated from a sponge-associated seaweed collected in the East Sea, Korea. The strain produces an ivory-coloured colony on marine agar 2216(MA; Difco). Cells were Gram negative, non-motile, strictly aerobic, catalase-, and oxidase-positive, rod-shaped (0.40-0.49㎛  1.00-2.07㎛) and halophilic. Growth was observed between 11 and 26℃ (optimum 22.5℃), at pH 7.0-10.0 (optimum 7.5) and in the presence of 1.5-5.0% (optimum 2.5%) NaCl. The strain requires Ca2+, Mg2+ and K+ ions in addition to the Na+ ion for growth. The isolate showed highest 16S rRNA gene sequence similarity with Ruegeria atlantica NBRC 15792T (95.8%) and followed by the members of the genus Roseobacter (95.8%). Other members of the genera Thalassobius, Leisingera, Staleya, Sulifitobacter and Oceanibulbus showed 94.5-95.5% sequence similarities. The major respiratory quinone is Q-10. The DNA G+C content was 54.9 mol%. The major fatty acids were 16:0 (9.6%), 17:0 (3.3%), and 18:1ω7c (69.4%). On the basis of this polyphasic taxonomic evidence, strain HJ105T should be classified in a novel genus and species in the family Rhodobacteraceae for which the name Marinicola apigmenta gen. nov., sp. nov. is proposed. The type strain is HJ105T (=KCCM 42355T =JCM 14069T).