Marinobacter segnicrescens sp. nov., a moderate halophile isolated from benthic sediment of the South China Sea

Abstract

A Gram-negative, motile, non-spore-forming and moderately halophilic ellipsoid-shaped marine coccobacillus, designated strain SS011B1-4^T, was isolated from benthic sediment of the South China Sea. Optimum growth occurred at 30–37 °C, pH 7.5–8.0 and 4–8 % (w/v) NaCl. Strain SS011B1-4^T utilized a variety of organic substrates as sole carbon sources, but did not utilize toluene, n-tetradecane or crude oil. Strain SS011B1-4^T had ubiquinone-9 as the major respiratory quinone and C_18 : 1 ω9c, C_16 : 0 and C_12 : 0 3-OH as the predominant fatty acids. The genomic DNA G+C content was 62.2 mol%. Phylogenetic analysis based on 16S rRNA gene sequences showed that strain SS011B1-4^T belonged to the genus Marinobacter of the Gammaproteobacteria. The results of the phenotypic, phylogenetic and genomic analyses revealed that strain SS011B1-4^T represents a novel species of the genus Marinobacter. The name Marinobacter segnicrescens sp. nov. is therefore proposed, with strain SS011B1-4^T (=LMG 23928^T=CGMCC 1.6489^T) as the type strain.