Thalassomonas agariperforans sp. nov., an agarolytic bacterium isolated from marine sand

A Gram-staining-negative, motile, agarolytic bacterium, designated M-M1 ^T, was isolated from marine sand obtained from Geoje Island, South Sea, Korea, and its taxonomic position was investigated using a polyphasic taxonomic approach. StrainM-M1 ^T grew optimally at pH 7.0-8.0, at 30°C and in the presence of 2% (w/v) NaCl. It did not grow in the presence of >7% (w/v) NaCl. Phylogenetic analysis based on 16S rRNA gene sequences showed that strain M-M1 ^T fell within the clade comprising members of the genus Thalassomonas, clustering with Thalassomonas agarivorans TMA1 ^T, Thalassomonas loyana CBMAI 722 ^T and Thalassomonas ganghwensis JC2041T, with which it exhibited 16S rRNA gene sequence similarity values of 96.4, 96.0 and 94.9% respectively. Strain M-M1 ^T exhibited 94.7-95.2% 16S rRNA gene sequence similarity to the other species of the genus Thalassomonas. Strain M-M1T contained Q-8 as the predominant ubiquinone and C ₁₆; ₁ω7c and/or iso-C ₁₅: 0 2-OH, C ₁₆; ₀ and C ₁₈; ₁ω7c as the major fatty acids. The DNAG+C content was 44.2 mol%. Strain M-M1 ^T could be differentiated from phylogenetically related species of the genus Thalassomonas by differences in some phenotypic properties. On the basis of the phenotypic, chemotaxonomic and phylogenetic data, strain M-M1 ^T is considered to represent a novel species of the genus Thalassomonas, for which the name Thalassomonas agariperforans sp. nov. is proposed. The type strain is M-M1 ^T (5KCTC 23343 ^T 5CCUG 60020 ^T).