Idiomarina maris sp. nov., a marine bacterium isolated from sediment.

A protease-producing marine bacterium, designated CF12-14(T), was isolated from sediment of the South China Sea. Phylogenetic analysis of the 16S rRNA gene sequence revealed that strain CF12-14(T) formed a separate lineage within the genus Idiomarina (Gammaproteobacteria). The isolate showed the highest 16S rRNA gene sequence similarity with Idiomarina salinarum ISL-52(T) (94.7 %), Idiomarina seosinensis CL-SP19(T) (94.6 %) and other members of the genus Idiomarina (91.9-94.6 %). Cells were gram-negative, aerobic, flagellated, straight or slightly curved, and often formed buds and prosthecae. Strain CF12-14(T) grew at 4-42 °C (optimum 30-35 °C) and with 0.1-15 % (w/v) NaCl (optimum 2-3 %). The isolate reduced nitrate to nitrite and hydrolysed DNA, but did not produce acids from sugars. The predominant cellular fatty acids were iso-C(15 : 0) (27.4 %), iso-C(17 : 0) (16.0 %) and iso-C(17 : 1)ω9c (15.8 %). The major polar lipids were phosphatidylethanolamine, diphosphatidylglycerol and phosphatidylglycerol. The major respiratory quinone was ubiquinone 8. The DNA G+C content was 50.4 mol%. The phylogenetic, phenotypic and chemotaxonomic data supported the conclusion that CF12-14(T) represents a novel species of the genus Idiomarina, for which the name Idiomarina maris sp. nov. is proposed. The type strain is CF12-14(T) ( = CCTCC AB 208166(T) = KACC 13974(T)).