Endozoicomonas montiporae sp. nov., isolated from the encrusting pore coral Montipora aequituberculata
A Gram-negative, aerobic, rod-shaped bacterium, designated strain CL-33T, was isolated from the encrusting pore coral Montipora aequituberculata collected from seawater off the coast of southern Taiwan. 16S rRNA gene sequence analysis showed that the strain clustered closely with Endozoicomonas elysicola MKT110T (96.7 % similarity). The novel strain required NaCl for growth and exhibited optimal growth at 25 °C and in the presence of 2–3 % NaCl. Predominant cellular fatty acids were summed feature 3 (C16 : 1 ω7c and/or C16 : 1 ω6c; 39.6 %), summed feature 8 (C18 : 1 ω7c and/or C18 : 1 ω6c; 32.8 %) and C16 : 0 (12.0 %). The DNA G+C content of strain CL-33T was 50.0 mol%. The results of physiological and biochemical tests allowed the clear phenotypic differentiation of this isolate from E. elysicola. It is evident from the genotypic, phenotypic and chemotaxonomic data presented that strain CL-33T represents a novel species of the genus Endozoicomonas, for which the name Endozoicomonas montiporae sp. nov. is proposed. The type strain is CL-33T (=LMG 24815T =BCRC 17933T).