Fundibacter jadensis gen. nov., sp. nov., a new slightly halophilic bacterium, isolated from intertidal sediment.

A moderately halophilic hydrocarbon-degrading bacterium was isolated from continuous cultures containing a suspension of intertidal sediment from the German North Sea coast with hexadecane as the sole carbon source. On the basis of phenotypic characteristics, fatty acid analysis and 16S rDNA sequence analysis, it was considered to be a new species belonging to a new genus. It is a Gram-negative, aerobic, rod-shaped bacterium, whose cell size varies. It grows at concentrations of 0.5-15% (w/v) NaCl and utilizes a restricted spectrum of carbon sources. The G + C content of the DNA is 63.6 mol%. Comparative 16S rDNA studies show a clear affiliation of this bacterium to the gamma subclass of the class Proteobacteria. Comparison of phylogenetic data indicate that it is most closely related to Marinobacter hydrocarbonoclasticus (88.9% similarity in 16S rRNA gene sequence). Since it is impossible to find a sufficiently closely related species, we propose the name Fundibacter jadensis gen. nov., sp. nov. for the bacteria. The type strain is T9T (= DSM 12178T).