Altererythrobacter atlanticus sp. nov., isolated from deep-sea sediment

A Gram-stain-negative, short rod-shaped bacterium, designated 26DY36^T, was isolated from a deep-sea sediment sample collected from the North Atlantic Rise. The isolate required NaCl and grew best with 2 % (w/v) sea salts at a temperature of 30-35 °C and at pH 7.0. It formed yellow colonies, produced carotenoid-like pigments and did not produce bacteriochlorophyll a. Strain 26DY36^T was positive for hydrolysis of aesculin, gelatin, tyrosine and Tweens 20, 40, 60 and 80, but negative for hydrolysis of casein, DNA and starch. The major respiratory quinone was ubiquinone-10. The major polar lipid profile consisted of sphingoglycolipid, diphosphatidylglycerol, phosphatidylethanolamine, phosphatidylglycerol, phosphatidylcholine and two unidentified glycolipids. The principal fatty acids (>5 %) were C_{18: 1}ω7c, C_{17: 1}ω6c, C_{15: 0} 2-OH and C_{16: 0}. The genomic DNA G+C content was 59.4 mol%. Phylogenetic analysis based on the 16S rRNA gene sequences indicated that strain 26DY36^T should be assigned to the genus Altererythrobacter. 16S rRNA gene sequence similarities between the isolate and the type strains of species of the genus Altererythrobacter were in the range 92.7-96.5 %. On the basis of phenotypic and genotypic data, strain 26DY36^T represents a novel species of the genus Altererythrobacter, for which the name Altererythrobacter atlanticus sp. nov. (type strain, 26DY36^T = CGMCC 1.12411^T = JCM 18865^T) is proposed.