Aureibacter tunicatorum gen. nov., sp nov., a marine bacterium isolated from a coral reef sea squirt, and description of Flammeovirgaceae fam. nov.

Two aerobic, Gram-reaction-negative, golden-yellow pigmented and rod-shaped bacteria, designated strains A5Q-118(T) and A5Q-27, were isolated from an unidentified sea squirt that thrives in the coral reefs off the coast of Okinawa, Japan. Phylogenetic analyses based on the 16S rRNA gene sequence revealed that the novel isolates were affiliated with the family 'Flammeovirgaceae' of the phylum Bacteroidetes. Strains A5Q-118(T) and A5Q-27 shared 100% sequence similarity with each other and showed <92% similarity with other cultivated members of the family 'Flammeovirgaceae'. The novel isolates were phenotypically and physiologically different from strains described previously. The DNA G+C content was 35.5-36.2 mol%, MK-7 was the major menaquinone and iso-C-15:0 and C-16:1 omega 5c were the major fatty acids. Based on the results of this polyphasic taxonomic study, it was concluded that strains A5Q-118(T) and A5Q-27 represent a novel species in a new genus of the family 'Flammeovirgaceae', for which the name Aureibacter tunicatorum gen. nov., sp. nov. is proposed. Proposal for designation of the Flammeovirgaceae fam. nov. is also presented. The type strain of Aureibacter tunicatorum is A5Q-118(T) (=KCTC 23232(T) =NBRC 107587(T)).