Retrieval of the species Alteromonas tetraodonis Simidu et al. 1990 as Pseudoalteromonas tetraodonis comb. nov and emendation of description

A polyphasic taxonomy study was undertaken of three strains of Pseudoalteromonas haloplanktis subsp. tetraodonis (Simidu et ah 1990) Gauthier et al. 1995. DNA was prepared from each of the strains and genomic relatedness was measured by DNA-DNA hybridization. Strains KMM 458(T) and IAM 14160(T) shared 99 % genetic relatedness, but were only 48-49 % related to the type strain of Pseudoalteromonas haloplanktis subsp. haloplanktis, IAM 12915(T). The third strain, P, haloplanktis subsp. tetraodonis A-M, showed 83 % genetic similarity with P. haloplanktis subsp, haloplanktis IAM 12915(T) and 32 % with KMM 458(T). From these results, it is concluded that strains KMM 458(T) and IAM 14160(T) comprise a separate species, originally described as Alteromonas tetraodonis, whereas strain A-M belongs to the species Pseudoalteromonas haloplanktis. Based on phenotypic and chemotaxonomic data, genomic fingerprint patterns, DNA-DNA hybridization data and phylogenetic analysis of 16S rRNA, it is proposed that the species Alteromonas tetraodonis be retrieved and recognized as Pseudoalteromonas tetraodonis comb. nov. (type strain IAM 14160T = KMM 458T).