Idiomarina maris sp. nov., a marine bacterium isolated from sediment
A protease-producing marine bacterium, designated CF12-14T, was isolated from sediment of the South China Sea. Phylogenetic analysis of the 16S rRNA gene sequence revealed that strain CF12-14T formed a separate lineage within the genus Idiomarina (Gammaproteobacteria). The isolate showed the highest 16S rRNA gene sequence similarity with Idiomarina salinarum ISL-52T (94.7 %), Idiomarina seosinensis CL-SP19T (94.6 %) and other members of the genus Idiomarina (91.9–94.6 %). Cells were Gram-negative, aerobic, flagellated, straight or slightly curved, and often formed buds and prosthecae. Strain CF12-14T grew at 4–42 °C (optimum 30–35 °C) and with 0.1–15 % (w/v) NaCl (optimum 2–3 %). The isolate reduced nitrate to nitrite and hydrolysed DNA, but did not produce acids from sugars. The predominant cellular fatty acids were iso-C15 : 0 (27.4 %), iso-C17 : 0 (16.0 %) and iso-C17 : 1ω9c (15.8 %). The major polar lipids were phosphatidylethanolamine, diphosphatidylglycerol and phosphatidylglycerol. The major respiratory quinone was ubiquinone 8. The DNA G+C content was 50.4 mol%. The phylogenetic, phenotypic and chemotaxonomic data supported the conclusion that CF12-14T represents a novel species of the genus Idiomarina, for which the name Idiomarina maris sp. nov. is proposed. The type strain is CF12-14T ( = CCTCC AB 208166T = KACC 13974T).