Rhodovulum visakhapatnamense sp. nov

1 Bacterial Discovery Laboratory, Centre for Environment, Institute of Science and Technology, JNT University, Kukatpally, Hyderabad 500 085, India 2 Department of Plant Sciences, School of Life Sciences, University of Hyderabad, PO Central University, Hyderabad 500 046, India 3 Leibniz-Institut für Meereswissenschaften IFM-GEOMAR, Marine Mikrobiologie, Düsternbrooker Weg 20, 24105 Kiel, Germany Correspondence Ch. Sasikala sasi449{at}yahoo.ie A Gram-negative, rod-shaped, phototrophic bacterium (JA181 T ) was isolated from a tidal water sample. On the basis of 16S rRNA gene sequence similarity, strain JA181 T was shown to belong to the class Alphaproteobacteria , most closely related to Rhodovulum sulfidophilum (97.8 % similarity to the type strain), Rhodovulum adriaticum (93 %), Rhodovulum robiginosum (93 %), Rhodovulum iodosum (94 %), Rhodovulum imhoffii (94 %), Rhodovulum strictum (95 %), Rhodovulum euryhalinum (94.6 %) and Rhodovulum marinum (94.6 %). DNA–DNA hybridization with Rdv. sulfidophilum DSM 1374 T (relatedness of 39 % with strain JA181 T ) and physiological and biochemical tests allowed genotypic and phenotypic differentiation of strain JA181 T from the eight Rhodovulum species with validly published names. Strain JA181 T therefore represents a novel species, for which the name Rhodovulum visakhapatnamense sp. nov. is proposed (type strain JA181 T =JCM 13531 T =ATCC BAA-1274 T =DSM 17937 T ). The GenBank/EMBL/DDBJ accession number for the 16S rRNA gene sequence of strain JA181 T is AM180707 .