Halioglobus japonicus gen. nov., sp. nov. and Halioglobus pacificus sp. nov., members of the class
Gammaproteobacteria
isolated from seawater
Two coccoid, non-motile bacteria were isolated from seawater in the north-western Pacific Ocean near Japan. The two strains, designated S1-36T and S1-72T, were Gram-negative, obligately aerobic, heterotrophic and catalase-negative. They were able to reduce nitrate to nitrogen. Both strains required NaCl for growth, with optimum growth in 2 % NaCl, and grew at 15–30 °C, with optimum growth at 20–25 °C. Genomic DNA G+C contents of strains S1-36T and S1-72T were 59.6 and 59.4 mol%, respectively. The predominant isoprenoid quinone was Q-8 and major cellular fatty acids were C16 : 1ω7c, C18 : 1ω7c and C17 : 1ω8c. Analyses of 16S rRNA gene sequences revealed that strains S1-36T and S1-72T were related to each other (96.1 % sequence similarity) and both strains showed 92.3–94.7 % sequence similarity with members of the genus Haliea . On the basis of phenotypic and phylogenetic features, strains S1-36T and S1-72T should be classified as representatives of two novel species in a new genus, Halioglobus gen. nov., within the class Gammaproteobacteria . The names proposed are Halioglobus japonicus sp. nov., the type species of the genus, with S1-36T ( = NBRC 107739T = KCTC 23429T) as type strain, and Halioglobus pacificus sp. nov., with S1-72T ( = NBRC 107742T = KCTC 23430T) as type strain.