Thalassomonas agariperforans sp. nov., an agarolytic bacterium isolated from marine sand

Abstract

A Gram-staining-negative, motile, agarolytic bacterium, designated M-M1T, was isolated from marine sand obtained from Geoje Island, South Sea, Korea, and its taxonomic position was investigated using a polyphasic taxonomic approach. Strain M-M1T grew optimally at pH 7.0–8.0, at 30 °C and in the presence of 2 % (w/v) NaCl. It did not grow in the presence of >7 % (w/v) NaCl. Phylogenetic analysis based on 16S rRNA gene sequences showed that strain M-M1T fell within the clade comprising members of the genus Thalassomonas, clustering with Thalassomonas agarivorans TMA1T, Thalassomonas loyana CBMAI 722T and Thalassomonas ganghwensis JC2041T, with which it exhibited 16S rRNA gene sequence similarity values of 96.4, 96.0 and 94.9 % respectively. Strain M-M1T exhibited 94.7–95.2 % 16S rRNA gene sequence similarity to the other species of the genus Thalassomonas. Strain M-M1T contained Q-8 as the predominant ubiquinone and C16 : 1ω7c and/or iso-C15 : 0 2-OH, C16 : 0 and C18 : 1ω7c as the major fatty acids. The DNA G+C content was 44.2 mol%. Strain M-M1T could be differentiated from phylogenetically related species of the genus Thalassomonas by differences in some phenotypic properties. On the basis of the phenotypic, chemotaxonomic and phylogenetic data, strain M-M1T is considered to represent a novel species of the genus Thalassomonas, for which the name Thalassomonas agariperforans sp. nov. is proposed. The type strain is M-M1T ( = KCTC 23343T  = CCUG 60020T).