Abstract

A gram-negative, motile, coccoid- and amorphous-shaped, non-pigmented chemoheterotrophic bacterium, designated strain PZ-5T, was isolated from sea water of Sagami Bay in Japan and subjected to a polyphasic taxonomic study. Phylogenetic analysis based on 16S rRNA gene sequences revealed that the novel isolate could be affiliated with the class Gammaproteobacteria. Strain PZ-5T showed below 93.9% similarity with validly published bacteria and demonstrated the highest sequence similarity to Dasania marina KOPRI 20902T (93.9%). Strain PZ-5T formed a monophyletic group with D. marina KOPRI 20902T. The DNA G+C content of strain PZ-5T was 49.8 mol%. The major isoprenoid quinone was Q-8 and redominant cellular fatty acids were C15:0 ISO 2OH (19%), C16:1 ω7c (17.4%), C17:1 ω8c (16.2%), C11:0 3OH (7.5%), and C15:1 ω8c (6.5%). Based on evidence from a polyphasic taxonomical study, it was concluded that the strain should be classified as representing a new genus and species of the class Gammaproteobacteria, for which the name Oceanicoccus sagamiensis gen. nov., sp. nov., (type strain PZ-5T =NBRC 107125T =KCTC 23278T) is proposed.

• Keywords: Gammaproteobacteria; marine environment; Oceanicoccus sagamiensis gen. nov.; sp. nov.