Alcanivorax xiamenensis sp. nov., a novel marine hydrocarbonoclastic bacterium isolated from surface seawater

A novel Alcanivorax-related strain, designated 6-D-6T, was isolated from the surface seawater collected around Xiamen Island. The novel strain is Gram-stain-negative, rod-shaped and motile, and grows at 10-45 °C, pH 6.0-9.0 and in the presence of 0.5-15.0 % (w/v) NaCl. Phylogenetic analysis based on the 16S rRNA gene sequences indicated that it belongs to the genus Alcanivorax, with the highest sequence similarity to Alcanivorax dieselolei B5T (99.9 %), followed by Alcanivorax xenomutans JC109T (99.5 %), Alcanivorax balearicus MACL04T (99.3 %) and other 13 species of the genus Alcanivorax (93.8 %-95.6 %). The digital DNA-DNA hybridization and average nucleotide identity values between strain 6-D-6T and three close type strains were 40.1-42.9/90.6-91.4 %, and others were below 22.9/85.1 %, respectively. The novel strain contained major cellular fatty acids of C16 : 0 (31.0 %), C19 : 0 ω8c cyclo (23.5 %), C17 : 0 cyclo (9.7 %), C12 : 0 3OH (8.6 %), summed feature 8 (7.6 %) and C12 : 0 (5.4 %). The genomic G+C content of strain 6-D-6T was 61.38 %. Phosphatidylethanolamine, phosphatidylglycerol, diphosphatidylglycerol, two unidentified phospholipids and one amino-group-containing phospholipid were detected. On the basis of phenotypic and genotypic characteristics, strain 6-D-6T represents a novel species within the genus Alcanivorax, for which the name Alcanivorax xiamenensis sp. nov. is proposed. The type strain is 6-D-6T (=MCCC 1A01359T=KCTC 92480T).