Spongiimonas flava gen. nov., sp. nov., a new member of the family Flavobacteriaceae isolated from an unidentified marine sponge.

A Gram-negative, strictly aerobic, golden-yellow pigmented, non-motile, rod-shaped strain designated J36A-7(T) was isolated from an unidentified yellow-green coloured marine sponge. Phylogenetic analyses based on the 16S rRNA gene sequence revealed that the novel isolate was affiliated with the family Flavobacteriaceae of the phylum Bacteroidetes and that it showed highest sequence similarity (85.6 %) to Nonlabens dokdonensis DSW-6(T). The strain could be differentiated phenotypically from recognized members of the family Flavobacteriaceae. The major fatty acids of strain J36A-7(T) were identified as iso-C16:0, iso-C17:0 3-OH and summed feature three as defined by the MIDI system (C16:1 ω7c and/or iso-C15:0 2-OH). The DNA G+C content was determined to be 31.2 mol%, the major respiratory quinone was identified as menaquinone 6 (MK-6) and a complex polar lipid profile was present consisting of phosphatidylethanolamine, two unidentified glycolipids, one unidentified aminolipid and one unidentified lipid. From the distinct phylogenetic position and combination of genotypic and phenotypic characteristics, the strain is considered to represent a novel genus for which the name Spongiimonas flava gen. nov., sp. nov. is proposed. The type strain of S. flava is J36A-7(T) (=KCTC 32176(T) = NBRC 109319(T)).