Amylibacter marinus gen. nov., sp. nov., isolated from surface seawater.

A Gram-stain-negative, non-motile, mesophilic, aerobic, rod-shaped bacterium, designated strain 2-3(T), was isolated from surface seawater at Muroto city, Kochi prefecture, Japan. This strain grew well with starch. Phylogenetic analyses based on 16S rRNA gene sequences showed that the strain fell within the family Rhodobacteraceae and that the strain was related most closely to the genus Pacificibacter (94.0 % sequence similarity to the type strain). The DNA G+C content was 52.4 mol%. The major fatty acids were C18 : 1ω7c, C14 : 0 and C16 : 0. The major polar lipids were phosphatidylglycerol, phosphatidylethanolamine, phosphatidylcholine, one unidentified lipid, one unidentified aminolipid and one unidentified phospholipid. The major isoprenoid quinone was Q-10. Strain 2-3(T) did not grow at 4 or 35 °C, while the type strain of the type species of the genus Pacificibacter grows at both temperatures. From the taxonomic data obtained in this study, it is proposed that strain 2-3(T) be placed into a novel genus and species named Amylibacter marinus gen. nov., sp. nov. in the family Rhodobacteraceae. The type strain of Amylibacter marinus is 2-3(T) ( = NBRC 110140(T) = LMG 28364(T)).