Psychromonas agarivorans sp. nov., a novel agarolytic bacterium.

Two heterotrophic, agarolytic bacteria were isolated from marine environments. A 16S rRNA gene sequence analysis showed the isolates (designated strains J42-3A(T) and 04OZ-AS15-7A) to be positioned in a separate lineage within the genus Psychromonas. Members of the genus Psychromonas are recognized as being psychrophilic or psychrotolerant, whereas none of the currently established Psychromonas species is known to be agarolytic. The DNA G+C contents of the isolates were about 42 mol% and the predominant cellular fatty acids were 16 : 1omega7c and 16 : 0. Based on the results of the phylogenetic and phenotypic analyses and DNA-DNA hybridization data, the isolates represent a novel species, for which the name Psychromonas agarivorans sp. nov. is proposed. The type strain is J42-3A(T) (=NBRC 104585(T)=KCTC 22285(T)).