Halioglobus japonicus gen. nov., sp. nov. and Halioglobus pacificus sp. nov., members of the class Gammaproteobacteria isolated from seawater.

Two coccoid, non-motile bacteria were isolated from seawater in the north-western Pacific Ocean near Japan. The two strains, designated S1-36(T) and S1-72(T), were Gram-negative, obligately aerobic, heterotrophic and catalase-negative. They were able to reduce nitrate to nitrogen. Both strains required NaCl for growth, with optimum growth in 2% NaCl, and grew at 15-30 °C, with optimum growth at 20-25 °C. Genomic DNA G+C contents of strains S1-36(T) and S1-72(T) were 59.6 and 59.4 mol%, respectively. The predominant isoprenoid quinone was Q-8 and major cellular fatty acids were C(16:1)ω7c, C(18:1)ω7c and C(17:1)ω8c. Analyses of 16S rRNA gene sequences revealed that strains S1-36(T) and S1-72(T) were related to each other (96.1% sequence similarity) and both strains showed 92.3-94.7% sequence similarity with members of the genus Haliea. On the basis of phenotypic and phylogenetic features, strains S1-36(T) and S1-72(T) should be classified as representatives of two novel species in a new genus, Halioglobus gen. nov., within the class Gammaproteobacteria. The names proposed are Halioglobus japonicus sp. nov., the type species of the genus, with S1-36(T) ( = NBRC 107739(T) = KCTC 23429(T)) as type strain, and Halioglobus pacificus sp. nov., with S1-72(T) ( = NBRC 107742(T) = KCTC 23430(T)) as type strain.