Vibrio sabulosilitoris sp. nov., a novel marine bacterium in the Agarivorans clade within the family Vibrionaceae, isolated from a sandy beach in Fukui, Japan

Two novel marine bacterial strains MAO6 T and MAO7 having 12 different nucleotide sequences of 16S rRNA gene were isolated from surface water of a sandy beach located at the innermost part of Wakasa Bay in Fukui, Japan. The result of phylogenetic analysis based on 16S rRNA gene indicated that MAO6 T clustered with the Agarivorans clade of the genus Vibrio . Closest relatives of the strain MAO6 T were Vibrio agarivorans 289 T and Vibrio astriarenae C7 T with 16S rRNA gene sequence identities of 95.79–97.56 and 94.79–97.09%, respectively. A molecular network reconstructed on the basis of nucleotide sequences of four phylogenetic marker protein genes ( ftsZ , mreB , pyrH and topA ) revealed that the strains MAO6 T and MAO7 were closely related to the type strains of Agarivorans clade species. Values of digital DNA–DNA hybridization and average nucleotide identity between both strains and type strains of Agarivorans clade were lower than the threshold for species delineation, indicating that these strains represent a novel species of the genus Vibrio . Cells were Gram-stain-negative, facultatively anaerobic, motile by means of a single polar flagellum and had a short rod shape with 0.7–1.5 µm in width and 2.2–6.3 µm in length. The strains grew under saline conditions at NaCl concentration of 0.5–6.0% (w/v), at temperature of 10(15)–35 °C and at pH (6.0)6.5–9.5(10.0). The most prevalent (>10%) cellular fatty acids of MAO6 T and MAO7 were C 16:0 , summed feature 3 (C 16:1 ω7c and C 16:1 ω6c ) and summed feature 8 (C 18:1 ω7c or C 18:1 ω6c ). Based on their genetic and phenotypic features, the new isolates represent a novel species of the genus Vibrio for which the name Vibrio sabulosilitoris sp. nov. is proposed with type strain MAO6 T (=BCRC 81474 T =JCM 37826 T ).