Maribacter halichondrissp. nov., isolated from the marine spongeHalichondria panicea

Abstract

AbstractA new member of the familyFlavobacteriaceae(termed Hal144T) was isolated from the marine breadcrumb spongeHalichondria panicea. Sponge material was collected in 2018 at Schilksee which is located in the Kiel Fjord (Baltic Sea, Germany). Phylogenetic analysis of the full-length Hal144T16S rRNA gene sequence revealed similarities from 94.3% - 96.6% to the nearest type strains of the genusMaribacter. The phylogenetic tree depicted a cluster of strain Hal144Twith its closest relativesMaribacter aestuariiGY20T(96.6%) andMaribacter thermophilusHT7-2T(96.3%). Genome comparisons of strain Hal144TwithMaribacterspp. type strains exhibited average nucleotide identities in the range of 75% - 76% and digital DNA-DNA hybridization values in the range of 13.1% - 13.4%. Strain Hal144Twas determined to be Gram-negative, mesophilic, strictly aerobic, flexirubin positive, resistant to aminoglycoside antibiotics, and able to utilize N-acetyl-β-D-glucosamine. Optimal growth occurred at 25 – 30 °C, within a salinity range of 2 - 6% sea salt, and a pH range between 5 - 8. The major fatty acids identified were C17:03-OH, iso-C15:0, and iso-C15:1G. The DNA G+C content of strain Hal144Twas 41.4 mol%. Based on the polyphasic approach, strain Hal144Trepresents a novel species of the genusMaribacter, and we propose the nameMaribacter halichondrissp. nov.. The type strain is Hal144T(= DSM 114563T= LMG 32744T).