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 degrees C, tolerated 10 % NaCl, was slightly alkaliphilic and was not able to degrade starch, gelatin, agar or Tween 80. Phosphatidylethanolamine (53.4 %) and phosphatidylglycerol (46.6 %) were the predominant phospholipids. The major fatty acids were 16 : 0 (15.5 %), 16 : 1omega7 (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 46-16T (=LMG 22531T=KMM 3492T=UCM 11075T).