Oceanicola pacificus sp nov., isolated from a deep-sea pyrene-degrading consortium

A taxonomic study was carried out on a Gram-negative, rod-shaped, non-motile, halophilic bacterium, designated strain W11-2B(T), which was isolated from a pyrene-degrading consortium that was enriched from sediment from the Pacific Ocean. Growth was observed at salinities of 0.5-10% and at temperatures of 10-41 degrees C. Strain W11-2B(T) was unable to degrade Tween 80 or gelatin. 16S rRNA gene sequence comparisons showed that strain W11-2B(T) was related most closely to Oceanicola nanhaiensis SS011B1-20(T) (95.8% similarity) and Oceanicola batsensis HTCC2597(T) (95.7%); levels of 16S rRNA gene sequence similarity between strain W11-2B(T) and the type strains of other species tested were below 95.2%. The dominant fatty acids of strain W11-2B(T) were C-18:1 omega 7c (32.1% of the total), C-19:0 cyclo (20.9%), C-18:1 omega 7c 11-methyl (119.5%), C-18:0 (7.3%), C-17:0 (6.6%) and C-16:0 (3.8%). The G+C content of the chromosomal DNA was 64.6 mol%. The above data were in good agreement with those of members of the genus Oceanicola. Based on morphology, physiology, fatty acid composition and 16S rRNA gene sequence data, strain W11-2B(T) is considered to represent a novel species of the genus Oceanicola, for which the name Oceanicola pacificus sp. nov. is proposed. The type strain is W11-2B(T) (=CCTCC AB 208224(T) =LMG 24619(T)=MCCC 1A01034(T)).