Oleibacter marinus gen. nov., sp. nov., a bacterium that degrades petroleum aliphatic hydrocarbons in a tropical marine environment

Abstract

Three Gram-negative, motile, mesophilic, aerobic, rod-shaped bacterial strains, designated 2O1T, 1O14 and 1O18, were isolated from Indonesian seawater after enrichment with crude oil and a continuous supply of supplemented seawater. The strains exhibited high n-alkane-degrading activity, which indicated that the strains were important degraders of petroleum aliphatic hydrocarbons in tropical marine environments. Phylogenetic analyses based on 16S rRNA gene sequences of members of theGammaproteobacteriashowed that the isolates formed a coherent and distinct cluster in a stable lineage containingOceanobacter kriegiiIFO 15467T(96.4–96.5 % 16S rRNA gene sequence similarity) andThalassolituus oleivoransMIL-1T. DNA G +C content was 53.0–53.1 mol%. The major fatty acids were C16 : 0, C16 : 1ω7 and C18 : 1ω9 and the hydroxy fatty acids were C12 : 03-OH and C10 : 03-OH. The polar lipids were phosphatidylglycerol, a ninhydrin-positive phospholipid(s) and glycolipids. The major quinone was Q-9 (97–99 %), which distinguished the isolates fromOceanobacter kriegiiNBRC 15467T(Q-8; 91 %). On the basis of phenotypic, genotypic and chemotaxonomic data, including DNA–DNA hybridization, the isolates represent a novel genus and species, for which the nameOleibacter marinusgen. nov., sp. nov. is proposed. The type strain ofOleibacter marinusis 2O1T(=NBRC 105760T=BTCC B-675T).