Vibrio diabolicus sp. nov., a new polysaccharide-secreting organism isolated from a deep-sea hydrothermal vent polychaete annelid, Alvinella pompejana.

A deep-sea, facultatively anaerobic, heterotrophic, mesophilic new organism was isolated from the polychaete annelid Alvinella pompejana collected from a deep-sea hydrothermal field in the East Pacific Rise. On the basis of phenotypic characteristics, phylogenetic analyses, and DNA-DNA relatedness, this organism was identified as a new species of the genus Vibrio, for which the name Vibrio diabolicus is proposed. In batch cultures in the presence of glucose, this organism produced an innovative exopolysaccharide. This polymer had high contents of both uronic acids and hexosamines and was similar to other polysaccharides with interesting biological activities.