Aquimarina salinaria sp. nov., a novel algicidal bacterium isolated from a saltpan

A bacterial strain designated antisso-27T, previously isolated from saltpan in Taiwan while screening for bacteria for algicidal activity, was characterized using the polyphasic taxonomic approach. Strain antisso-27T was Gram-negative, aerobic, brownish yellow colored, rod-shaped, non-flagellated and non-gliding. Phylogenetic analyses based on 16S rRNA gene sequences showed that strain antisso-27T belonged to the genus Aquimarina within the family Flavobacteriaceae with relatively low sequence similarities of 94.0–96.6% to other valid Aquimarina spp. It contained iso-C17:0 3-OH, iso-C15:0, iso-C16:0, iso-C15:1 and iso-C15:0 3-OH as the main fatty acids and contained a menaquinone with six isoprene units (MK-6) as the major isoprenoid quinone. Major polar lipids were phosphatidylethanolamine, diphosphatidylglycerol, an uncharacterized aminolipid and five uncharacterized phospholipids. Strain antisso-27T employed direct mode of algicidal lysis to Chlorella vulgaris strain 211-31; nevertheless, it released an algicidal substance against M. aeruginosa strain MTY01. This is the first study that the Aquimarina species possesses both direct and indirect algicidal activities. On the basis of the phylogenetic and phenotypic data, strain antisso-27T should be classified as representing a novel species, for which the name A. salinaria sp. nov. is proposed. The type strain is A. salinaria antisso-27T (= BCRC 80080T = LMG 25375T).