Description of Sansalvadorimonas verongulae gen. nov., sp. nov., a gammaproteobacterium isolated from the marine sponge Verongula gigantea

A Gram-stain-negative, strictly aerobic, motile, rod-shaped bacterium, designated strain RKSG058 , was isolated from the marine sponge Verongula gigantea, collected off the west coast of San Salvador, The Bahamas. Phylogenetic analyses based on 16S rRNA gene sequences revealed that RKSG058 formed a distinct lineage within the family Hahellaceae (order Oceanospirillales, class Gammaproteobacteria), and was most closely related to the genus Endozoicomonas, with sequence similarities to members of this genus ranging from 92.0 to 93.7 %. Optimal growth occurred at 30 °C, at pH 7 and in the presence of 2-3 % (w/v) NaCl. The predominant cellular fatty acids were summed feature 3 (C16 : 1ω7c and/or C16 : 1ω6c), summed feature 8 (C18 : 1ω7c and/or C18 : 1ω6c) and C16 : 0. The major and minor respiratory quinones were Q-9 and Q-8, respectively. The polar lipids comprised diphosphatidylglycerol, phosphatidylglycerol, phosphatidylethanolamine, three unidentified aminolipids, an unidentified phospholipid and five unidentified lipids. The DNA G+C content was 42.3 mol%. Biochemical, chemotaxonomic and phylogenetic analyses indicated that strain RKSG058 represents the first cultured isolate of a novel bacterial genus and species within the family Hahellaceae, for which the name Sansalvadorimonas verongulae gen. nov., sp. nov. is proposed. The type strain of Sansalvadorimonas verongulae is RKSG058 (=TSD-72 =LMG 29871 ). An emended description of the genus Kistimonas is provided.