Phaeobacter arcticus sp nov., a psychrophilic bacterium isolated from the Arctic

A Gram-negative, psychrophilic, motile, rod-shaped bacterium, designated strain 20188, was isolated from marine samples collected from the Arctic (75 degrees 00' 24 '' N 169 degrees 59' 37 '' W), and was identified taxonomically by means of a polyphasic study. On the basis of 16S rRNA gene sequence similarity, strain 20188(T) was closely related to members of the genera Phaeobacter. 16S rRNA gene sequence similarities between strain 20188(T) and the type strains of Phaeobacter inhibens, Phaeobacter gallaeciensis and Phaeobacter daeponensis were 97.0, 96.8 and 96.2%, respectively. The temperature range for growth was 0-25 degrees C, with optimum growth occurring at 19-20 degrees C and at approximately pH 6.0-9.0. Strain 20188(T) had ubiquinone-10 as the major respiratory quinone and C(18:1)omega 7c and 11-methyl C(18:1)omega 7c as major fatty acids. The genomic DNA G + C content was 59.6 mol%. On the basis of phenotypic characteristics, phylogenetic analysis and DNA-DNA relatedness data, strain 20188(T) is considered to represent a novel species of the genus Phaeobacter, for which the name Phaeobacter arcticus sp. nov. is proposed. The type strain is 20188(T) (=CGMCC 1.6500(T)= JCM 14644(T)).