Alteromonas marina sp. nov., isolated from sea water of the East Sea in Korea

Abstract

Two Gram-negative, motile, non-spore-forming and moderately halophilic rods (strains SW-47^T and SW-49) were isolated from sea water of the East Sea in Korea and subjected to a polyphasic taxonomic study. The two strains grew optimally between 30 and 37 °C, and grew at 4 and 44 °C but not at temperatures above 45 °C. They grew optimally in the presence of 2–5 % (w/v) NaCl, but did not grow in the absence of NaCl. Strains SW-47^T and SW-49 had ubiquinone-8 (Q-8) as the predominant respiratory lipoquinone and C_16 : 1 ω7c and/or iso-C_15 : 0 2OH, C_16 : 0 and C_18 : 1 ω7c as the major fatty acids, which are consistent with the corresponding data for Alteromonas macleodii. The DNA G+C contents of strains SW-47^T and SW-49 were 45 and 44 mol%, respectively. Strains SW-47^T and SW-49 showed a high level of 16S rDNA sequence similarity (99·9 %) and a mean level of DNA–DNA relatedness of 96·5 %. Phylogenetic analyses based on 16S rDNA sequences showed that the two strains form a coherent cluster with A. macleodii. Strains SW-47^T and SW-49 exhibited levels of 16S rDNA sequence similarity of 99·3 and 99·1 %, respectively, with A. macleodii DSM 6062^T and of less than 89·4 % with other species used in the phylogenetic analyses. Alteromonas fuliginea CIP 105339^T was found to be more closely related to the genus Pseudoalteromonas than to the genus Alteromonas. On the basis of phenotypic properties and phylogenetic and genomic data, strains SW-47^T and SW-49 represent a new species of the genus Alteromonas, for which the name Alteromonas marina (type strain SW-47^T=KCCM 41638^T=JCM 11804^T) is proposed.