Vitellibacter echinoideorum sp. nov., isolated from a sea urchin (Tripneustes gratilla)

A Gram-stain-negative, aerobic, rod-shaped, yellow-pigment-producing bacterium (designated strain CC-CZW007T) was isolated from seafood samples (sea urchins) at Penghu Island in Taiwan. Strain CC-CZW007T grew optimally at pH 7.0 and 30 °C in the presence of 3 % (w/v) NaCl. The novel strain shared highest 16S rRNA gene sequence similarity to Vitellibacter vladivostokensis JCM 11732T (96.8 %), Vitellibacter soesokkakensis KCTC 32536T (96.4 %), Vitellibacter nionensis KCTC 32420T (95.8 %) and Vitellibacter aestuarii JCM 15496T (95.6 %) and lower sequence similarity to members of other genera. Phylogenetic analyses based on 16S rRNA genes revealed a distinct taxonomic position attained by strain CC-CZW007T with respect to other species of the genus Vitellibacter. The major fatty acids were iso-C15 : 0 and iso-C17 : 0 3-OH. The polar lipid profile was composed of major amounts of phosphatidylethanolamine, unidentified lipids and aminolipids; a moderate amount of aminophospholipid was also detected. The DNA G+C content was 34.7 mol%. The predominant quinone system was menaquinone (MK-6). On the basis of polyphasic taxonomic evidence presented here, strain CC-CZW007T is proposed to represent a novel species within the genus Vitellibacter, for which the name Vitellibacter echinoideorum sp. nov. is proposed. The type strain is CC-CZW007T ( = BCRC 80886T = JCM 30378T).