Endozoicomonas acroporae sp nov., isolated from Acropora coral

Strain Acr-14(T), isolated from Acropora coral, was characterized by using a polyphasic taxonomy approach. Cells of strain Acr-14(T) were Gram-stain-negative, aerobic, non-motile, poly-beta-hydroxybutyrate-accumulating, rod-shaped and formed creamy white colonies. Optimal growth occurred at 30 degrees C, pH 7 and in the presence of 2% NaCl. Phylogenetic analyses based on 16S rRNA gene sequences showed that strain Acr-14(T) belonged to the genus Endozoicomonas and was most closely related to Endozoicomonas atrinae WP70(T) with sequence similarity of 96.7 %. Strain Acr-14(T) contained summed feature 3 (C-16 : 1 omega 7c and/or C-16 : 1 omega 6c), summed feature 8 (C-18 : 1 omega 7c and/or C-18 : 1 omega 6c) and C-16 : 0 as the predominant fatty acids. The predominant isoprenoid quinone was Q-9. The major polar lipids were phosphatidylethanolamine, phosphatidylglycerol and diphosphatidylglycerol. The genomic DNA G+C content of strain Acr-14(T) was 49.1 mol%. Differential phenotypic properties, together with the phylogenetic inference, demonstrated that strain Acr-14(T) should be classified as a novel species of the genus Endozoicomonas, for which the name Endozoicomonas acroporae sp. nov. is presented. The type strain is Acr-14(T) (= BCRC 80922(T) = LMG 29482(T) = KCTC 42901(T)).