A Gram-negative, aerobic, short-rod-shaped, motile (with a
terminal flagellum), non-spore-forming bacterium, designated
strain 85T, was isolated from a surface-sterilized bark
of Sonneratia caseolaris collected from Qinzhou in Guangxi,
China and was analyzed using a polyphasic approach to determine
its taxonomic position. Strain 85T grew optimally in
the presence of 1–2% (w/v) NaCl at 30°C and pH 6.0–7.0.
Phylogenetic analysis based on 16S rRNA gene sequence
suggested that strain 85T belonged to the genus Fulvimarina
and shared the highest 16S rRNA gene sequence similarity
with Fulvimarina pelagi HTCC2506T (96.16%). The cell-wall
peptidoglycan contained meso-diaminopimelic acid and ubiquinone
Q-10 was the predominant respiratory lipoquinone.
The polar lipids comprised diphosphatidylglycerol, phosphatidylglycerol,
phosphatidylethanolamine, phosphatidylcholine,
an unidentified amino lipid, three unidentified phospholipids
and six unidentified lipids. The major fatty acid
was C18:1 ω7c. The DNA G+C content of strain 85T was 65.4
mol%, and the average nucleotide identity and estimated
DDH values between strain 85T and the type strain of Fulvimarina
pelagi HTCC2506T were 77.3% and 21.7%, respectively.
Based on the phylogenetic, phenotypic, and chemotaxonomic
analyses, strain 85T should be considered as a novel
species of the genus Fulvimarina with the proposed name
Fulvimarina endophytica sp. nov., and its type strain is 85T
(= KCTC 62717T = CGMCC 1.13665T).