Aquimarina celericrescens sp. nov., isolated from seawater.

Abstract

An orange-coloured, slender rod-shaped, gliding bacterium, designated NS08T, was isolated from coastal water of Xiaoshi Island, Weihai, China (37° 31' 36'' N 122° 00' 58'' E). Cells were Gram-stain-negative, non-spore-forming, non-flagellated, aerobic, catalase-positive and oxidase-negative. Growth occurred at 10-37 °C (optimum 30 °C), in the presence of 1.0-5.0 % (w/v) NaCl (optimum 2.0-3.0 %) and at pH 6.5-9.0 (optimum pH 7.0-7.5). Carotenoid pigments were produced but flexirubin-type pigments were not. The major fatty acids (>10 %) were iso-C15 : 0 and iso-C17 : 0 3-OH. The sole isoprenoid quinone of strain NS08T was menaquinone MK-6 and the DNA G+C content was 39.4 mol%. The polar lipid compositions of strain NS08T and the type strain of the type species of the genus Aquimarina, Aquimarina muelleri KCTC 12285T, were very similar with phosphatidylethanolamine, an unidentified aminolipid and two unknown polar lipids as the major components. A phylogenetic tree based on 16S rRNA gene sequences showed that strain NS08T formed an evolutionary lineage within the genus Aquimarina and shared the highest level of similarity to A. versatilis JCM 19528T (96.0 %) while level to A. muelleri KCTC 12285T was 95.0 %. Phenotypic characteristics distinguished strain NS08T from described members of the genus Aquimarina. On the basis of the evidence presented in this study, strain NS08T represents a novel species of the genus Aquimarina, for which the name Aquimarina celericrescens sp. nov. is proposed. The type strain is NS08T (=KCTC 52897T=MCCC 1H00191T).