Pseudomonas litoralis sp. nov., isolated from Mediterranean seawater.

Strains 2SM5(T) and 2SM6, two strictly aerobic chemo-organotrophic gammaproteobacteria, were isolated from Mediterranean seawater off the coast of Vinaroz, Castellón, Spain, in February, 1990. They were extensively characterized by a polyphasic study that placed them in the genus Pseudomonas. Phylogenetic analysis of 16S rRNA gene sequences showed that both strains shared 100 % sequence similarity and were closely related to members of the Pseudomonas pertucinogena clade, with less than 97.3 % similarity to strains of established species; Pseudomonas xiamenensis was the closest relative. Analysis of sequences of three housekeeping genes, rpoB, rpoD and gyrB, further confirmed the phylogenetic assignment of the Mediterranean isolates. Chemotaxonomic traits such as quinone and polar lipid composition also corroborated the placement of strains 2SM5(T) and 2SM6 in the gammaproteobacteria. Other phenotypic traits, including fatty acid composition, enabled clear differentiation of both isolates from other species of Pseudomonas. We therefore conclude that strains 2SM5(T) and 2SM6 represent a novel species of Pseudomonas, for which the name Pseudomonas litoralis is proposed; the type strain is 2SM5(T) ( = CECT 7670(T) = KCTC 23093(T)).