Thalassomonas loyana sp. nov., a causative agent of the white plague-like disease of corals on the Eilat coral reef

1 Microbial Resources Division and Brazilian Collection of Environmental and Industrial Micro-organisms (CBMAI), CPQBA, UNICAMP, CP 6171, Brazil 2 Department of Molecular Microbiology and Biotechnology, George S. Wise Faculty of Life Sciences, Tel Aviv University, Ramat Aviv 69978, Israel 3 Laboratory of Microbiology, Research Faculty of Fisheries Sciences, Hokkaido University, 3-1-1 Minato-cho, Hakodate 041-8611, Japan 4 Laboratory of Microbiology and BCCM TM /LMG Bacteria Collection, Ghent University, K.L. Ledeganckstraat 35, Ghent 9000, Belgium Correspondence F. L. Thompson Fabiano.Thompson{at}terra.com.br The taxonomic position of the coral pathogen strain CBMAI 722 T was determined on the basis of molecular and phenotypic data. We clearly show that the novel isolate CBMAI 722 T is a member of the family Colwelliaceae , with Thalassomonas ganghwensis as the nearest neighbour (95 % 16S rRNA gene sequence similarity). CBMAI 722 T can be differentiated from its nearest neighbour on the basis of phenotypic and chemotaxonomic features, including the utilization of cellobiose and L -arginine, the production of alginase and amylase, but not oxidase, and the presence of the fatty acids 12 : 0 3-OH and 14 : 0, but not 10 : 0 or 15 : 0. The DNA G+C content of CBMAI 722 T is 39·3 mol%. We conclude that this strain represents a novel species for which we propose the name Thalassomonas loyana sp. nov., with the type strain CBMAI 722 T (=LMG 22536 T ). This is the first report of the involvement of a member of the family Colwelliaceae in coral white plague-like disease. Published online ahead of print on 13 October 2005 as DOI 10.1099/ijs.0.63800-0. The GenBank/EMBL/DDBJ accession number for the 16S rRNA gene sequence of Thalassomonas loyana sp. nov. CBMAI 722 T is AY643537 . Additional phylogenetic trees and an electron micrograph of cells of Thalassomonas loyana sp. nov. are available as supplementary figures in IJSEM online.