Reichenbachia agariperforans gen. nov., sp. nov., a novel marine bacterium in the phylum Cytophaga-Flavobacterium-Bacteroides.

A heterotrophic, pigmented, agarolytic, gliding bacterium was isolated from a seawater sample collected from the Gulf of Peter the Great, Sea of Japan, during June 2000. 16S rDNA sequence analysis indicated that the novel bacterium, strain KMM 3525T, was a member of the phlyum Cytophaga-Flavobacterium-Bacteroides. On the basis of phenotypic, chemotaxonomic, genotypic and phylogenetic data, it is proposed that the marine bacterium represents the sole species of a novel genus, Reichenbachia, the type species of which is Reichenbachia agariperforans (KMM 3525T =IFO 16625T =JCM 11238T).