Idiomarina fontislapidosi sp. nov. and Idiomarina ramblicola sp. nov., isolated from inland hypersaline habitats in Spain.

Two bacterial strains, F23T and R22T, have been isolated from hypersaline habitats in Málaga (S. Spain) and Murcia (E. Spain). The novel strains, similar to previously described Idiomarina species, are slightly curved rods, Gram-negative, chemo-organotrophic, strictly aerobic and motile by a single polar flagellum. Both strains produce catalase and oxidase. They hydrolyse aesculin, gelatin, casein, Tween 20, Tween 80 and DNA but not starch or tyrosine. The strains differ from the hitherto described Idiomarina species in their capacity to produce extracellular polysaccharides and their different patterns of carbon sources and antimicrobial susceptibility. They are moderate halophiles capable of growing in NaCl concentrations of 0.5 to 25 % w/v, the optimum being 3-5 % w/v. Cellular fatty acids are predominantly iso-branched. The main fatty acids in strain FP23T are 15 : 0 iso (26.75 %), 16 : 1omega7c (11.33 %) and 16 : 0 (11.73 %) whilst 15 : 0 iso (24.69 %), 17 : 0 iso (12.92 %) and 17 : 1omega9c (11.03 %) are predominant in strain R22T. The DNA G + C composition is 46.0 mol% in strain FP23T and 48.7 mol% in strain R22T. Phylogenetic analyses indicate conclusively that the two strains belong to the genus Idiomarina. DNA-DNA hybridization revealed that they represent novel species. In the light of the polyphasic evidence accumulated in this study, it is proposed that they be classified as novel species of the genus Idiomarina, with the names Idiomarina fontislapidosi sp. nov. (type strain F23T = CECT 5859T = LMG 22169T) and Idiomarina ramblicola sp. nov. (type strain R22T = CECT 5858T = LMG 22170T).