Echinimonas agarilytica gen. nov., sp. nov., a new gammaproteobacterium isolated from the sea urchin Strongylocentrotus intermedius

Abstract

A novel Gram-negative, facultatively anaerobic and motile bacterial strain, designated KMM 6351T, was isolated from the sea urchin Strongylocentrotus intermedius and examined using a polyphasic taxonomic approach. A phylogenetic analysis based on 16S rRNA gene sequencing revealed that the strain formed a distinct phyletic line in the class Gammaproteobacteria and was most closely related to the genera Aliivibrio, Photobacterium and Vibrio. Strain KMM 6351T grows at 4-40 C and with 0.5-12 % NaCl and decomposes aesculin, agar, gelatin, starch, chitin and DNA. The DNA G+C content of the strain was determined to be 46.1 mol%. The prevalent fatty acids were found to be C16:0, C18:1 ω7c, C12:0 3-OH and summed feature 3 (comprising C16:1 ω7c and/or iso-C 15:0 2-OH fatty acids). The major polar lipids were determined to be diphosphatidylglycerol, phosphatidylglycerol, phosphatidylethanolamine and an unidentified aminolipid. The predominant ubiquinone was found to be Q-8. The results of the phenotypic, chemotaxonomic and genotypic analyses clearly indicated that the novel strain should be assigned to a new genus and species within the class γ-Proteobacteria for which the name Echinimonas agarilytica gen. nov., sp. nov. is proposed. The type strain is KMM 6351 T (=KCTC 22996T = LMG 25420T).