Shewanella chilikensis sp nov., a moderately alkaliphilic gammaproteobacterium isolated from a lagoon

A Gram-negative, motile, rod-shaped, facultatively anaerobic bacterium was isolated from sediment of Chilika Lagoon, a brackish water lagoon in India. The strain, designated JC5(T), was able to grow in the presence of 0-8.0% NaCl and at pH 7.0-10.0. The isolate was positive for oxidase and catalase and exhibited alpha-haemolysis. The major fatty acids were iso-C-15:0 (18.3%), C-16:0 (11.3%), C-17:1 omega 8c (13.1%) and a summed feature, C-16:1 omega 7c and/or C-16:1 omega 6c (15.1%). The genomic DNA G + C content was 54.6 mol%. A phylogenetic tree based on the 16S rRNA gene sequences showed that strain JC5(T) forms a lineage within the genus Shewanella and is closely related to Shewanella haliotis DW01(T) (98.0%), Shewanella algae ATCC 51192(T) (97.6%) and Shewanella marina C4(T) (95.8%). Further, genomic DNA-DNA hybridization of strain JC5(T) with S. haliotis DW01(T) and S. algae ATCC 51192(T) showed relatedness of only 42 and 23%, respectively. On the basis of phenotypic and molecular genetic evidence, strain JC5(T) represents a novel species of the genus Shewanella, for which the name Shewanella chilikensis sp. nov. is proposed. The type strain is JC5(T) (=CCUG 57101(T) = NBRC 105217(T) = KCTC 22540(T)).