Vibrio jasicida sp nov., a member of the Harveyi clade, isolated from marine animals (packhorse lobster, abalone and Atlantic salmon)

Six isolates of a facultatively anaerobic bacterium were recovered in culture from marine invertebrates and vertebrates, including packhorse lobster (Jasus verreauxi, abalone (Haliotis sp.) and Atlantic salmon (Salmo salar), between 1 994 and 2002. The bacteria were Gramnegative, rod-shaped and motile by means of more than one polar flagellum, oxidase-positive, catalase-positive and able to grow in the presence of 0.5-8.0% NaCl (optimum 3.0-6.0 %) and at 10-37 degrees C (optimum 25-30 degrees C). On the basis of 16S rRNA gene sequence analysis and multilocus sequence analysis (MLSA) using five loci (2443 bp; gyrB, pyrH, ftsZ, mreB and gapA), the closest phylogenetic neighbours of strain TCFB 0772(T) were the type strains of Vibrio communis (99.8 and 94.6% similarity, respectively), Vibrio owensii (99.8 and 94.1 %), Vibrio natriegens (99.4 and 88.8 %), Vibrio parahaemolyticus (99.4 and 90.3 %), Vibrio rotiferianus (99.2 and 94.4%), Vibrio alginolyticus (99.1 and 89.3%) and Vibrio campbellii (99.1 and 92.3%). DNA DNA hybridization confirmed that the six isolates constitute a unique taxon that is distinct from other known species of Vibrio. In addition, this taxon can be readily differentiated phenotypically from other Vibrio species. The six isolates therefore represent a novel species, for which the name Vibrio jasicida sp. nov. is proposed; the novel species is represented by the type strain TCFB 0772(T) (=JCM 16453(T) =LMG 25398(T)) (DNA G+C content 45.9 mol%) and reference strains TCFB 1977 (=JCM 16454) and TCFB 1000 (=JCM 16455).