Marinomonas pontica sp nov., isolated from the Black Sea

A Gram-negative, polarly flagellated bacterium was isolated from a sea-water sample collected from the Karadag Natural Reserve of the Eastern Crimea and characterized to clarify its taxonomic position. 16S rRNA gene sequence-based phylogenetic analysis of this novel organism revealed Marinomonas vaga, Marinomonas communis, Marinomonas mediterranea, Marinomonas primoryensis and 'Marinomonas protea' as its closest relatives (similarity 95-97 The G + C content of the DNA was 46-5 mol%. The organism grew between 4 and 33 degreesC, tolerated 10% NaCl, was slightly alkaliphilic and was not able to degrade starch, gelatin, agar or Tween 80. Phosphaticylethanolamine (5.4%) and phosphaticlylglycerol (46.6%) were the predominant phospholipids. The major fatty acids were 16: 0 (115.5%), 16 : 1 omega7 (26.7%) and 18 : 1omega7 (47.1%). The phylogenetic, genetic and physiological properties of the organism placed it within a novel species, proposed as Marinomonas pontica sp. nov., the type strain of which is 46-16 (T) (=LMG 22531 (T) = KMM 3492 (T) = UCM 11075 (T)).