| Abstract |
A novel bacterium, designated strain Acr-12T, was isolated from the coral Acropora sp. off coast of Southern Taiwan. Phylogenetic analyses based on 16S rRNA gene sequences showed that strain Acr-12T belonged to the genus Endozoicomonas and had closest phylogenetic identity to Endozoicomonas acroporae Acr-14T (98.7%) and Endozoicomonas atrinae WP70T (97.8%). Cells of strain Acr-12T were Gram-negative, aerobic, non-motile, poly-β-hydroxybutyrate-accumulating, rod-shaped and formed creamy white colonies. Optimal growth occurred at 30 °C, pH 7, and in the presence of 3% NaCl. Strain Acr-12T contained summed feature 3 (C16:1ω7c and/or C16:1ω6c), summed feature 8 (C18:1ω7c and/or C18:1ω6c) and C16:0 as the predominant fatty acids. The major polar lipids were phosphatidylethanolamine, phosphatidylglycerol and diphosphatidylglycerol. The predominant isoprenoid quinone was Q-9. The genomic DNA G + C content was 49.6 mol%. The DNA-DNA relatedness of strain Acr-12T with respect to the closest species of the genus Endozoicomonas was less than 30%. Phenotypic characteristics of the novel strain also differed from those of the closest related species of the genus Endozoicomonas. On the basis of the genotypic, chemotaxonomic, and phenotypic data, strain Acr-12T represents a novel species in the genus Endozoicomonas, for which the name Endozoicomonas coralli sp. nov. is proposed. The type strain is Acr-12T (= BCRC 80921T = KCTC 42900T).
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