Glaciecola agarolytica sp. nov., a novel marine agar-digesting bacterium from the East Sea, Korea

Abstract

A taxonomic study was carried out on an isolate, strain NO2T, from marine sediment collected from the East Sea, Korea. Comparative 16S rRNA gene sequence studies showed that this strain belongs to γ-Proteobacteria. NO2T was most closely related to Glaciecola mesophila KMM 241T and Glaciecola polaris LMG 21857T (98.6 % and 98.0 % 16S rRNA gene sequence similarity, respectively). The isolate was Gram-negative, aerobic, slightly halophilic, and grew in 2-8 % NaCl and at 7-30 ℃. Strain NO2T shared some physiological and biochemical properties with G. mesophila KMM 241T and G. polaris LMG 21857T. The G + C content of the genomic DNA of strain NO2T was 45 mol%. Strain NO2T possessed C16:0, C16:1ω7c and/or iso-C15:0 2-OH, and C18:1ω9c and/or ω12 and/or ω7c as the major cellular fatty acids. DNA-DNA relatedness data indicated that strain NO2T represent a genomic species that is separated from the G. mesophila KMM 241T and G. polaris LMG 21857T. On the basis of polyphasic evidence, it is proposed that strain NO2T (=KCTC 12755 =LMG xxxx) represents the type strain of a novel species, Glaciecola agarolytica sp. nov.