Summary auto-generated
This study describes the characterization and identification of four marine bacterial strains isolated from benthic invertebrates in the Northwest Pacific Ocean. One strain (KMM 3587T) was isolated from the marine worm Phascolosoma japonicum, while three others (KMM 3586, KMM 3821, KMM 3822) came from a hydrocoral species. Although the strains showed 99% 16S rRNA gene sequence similarity to Shewanella colwelliana, DNA-DNA hybridization experiments revealed only 45-52% genetic relatedness with S. colwelliana, confirming they represent a distinct species. The novel strains shared high intraspecies DNA relatedness (81-97%) and consistent characteristics: mesophilic growth (10-34°C), neutrophilic behavior, haemolytic activity, and ability to degrade gelatin, casein, and Tween compounds but not starch or chitin. The strains possessed typical Shewanella fatty acid profiles and isoprenoid quinone compositions. Based on molecular and phenotypic data, the authors propose these isolates as a new species, Shewanella affinis, with type strain KMM 3587T.
Key findings
- Four marine bacterial strains isolated from invertebrates represent a novel Shewanella species despite 99% 16S rRNA gene similarity to S. colwelliana, distinguished by DNA-DNA hybridization showing only 45-52% relatedness
- S. affinis exhibits mesophilic growth (10-34°C optimum 20-25°C), haemolytic activity, and can degrade proteins and lipids but not complex polysaccharides
- The strains share high intraspecies genetic relatedness (81-97% DNA-DNA hybridization) with consistent phenotypic, chemotaxonomic, and genetic characteristics, confirming they constitute a single new species
- S. affinis possesses characteristic Shewanella fatty acid profiles including iso-branched and straight-chain components, with minor production of eicosapentaenoic acid
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Abstract
1 Industrial Research Institute, Swinburne University of Technology, PO Box 218, Hawthorn, Vic 3122, Australia
2 Pacific Institute of Bioorganic Chemistry of the Far-Eastern Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences, 690022 Vladivostok, Pr. 100 Let Vladivostoku 159, Russia
3 Laboratory of Microbiology, Graduate School of Fisheries Sciences, Faculty of Fisheries, Hokkaido University, 3-1-1 Minato-cho, Hakodate 041-8611, Japan
4 Institute of Marine Biology of the Far-Eastern Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Palchevskogo Str. 17, 690041 Vladivostok, Russia
5 School of Agricultural Science, University of Tasmania, Private Bag 54, Hobart 7001, Tasmania, Australia