Abyssibius alkaniclasticus gen. nov., sp. nov., a novel member of the family Rhodobacteraceae , isolated from the Mariana Trench.

A Gram-stain-negative bacterium with rod-shaped or irregular cells approximately 0.5-0.9×2.0-3.8 µm in size, designated as 960558, was isolated from sediment sampled in the Mariana Trench. Strain 960558 grows at 4-37 °C (optimum, 28 °C), pH 6-7 (optimum, pH 7) and in the presence of 1-5 % (w/v) NaCl (optimum, 3 %). Strain 960558 utilizes tetradecane or hexadecane as a sole carbon and energy source, respectively. Phylogenetic trees based on 16S rRNA gene sequences and phylogenomic reconstruction revealed a close phylogenetic relationship between strain 960558 and members of the family by forming a separate branch within the type species of closely related genera. The validly published species that is most closely related to strain 960558 is JAM 119, which has the highest 16S rRNA gene sequence similarity (93.47 %). Ubiquinone 10 is the predominant ubiquinone, while C, 11-methyl C 7 and C 7 and/or C 6 are the predominant fatty acids (>10 %). Additionally, phosphatidylglycerol, glycolipids, diphosphatidylglycerol, unidentified polar lipids and unidentified aminolipids are the major polar lipids. The DNA G+C content of strain 960558 is 61 %. Average nucleotide identity and digital DNA-DNA hybridization results of strain 960558 with other type strains are <70.2 and 22.1 %, respectively. Based on its phylogenetic, chemotaxonomic and other phenotypic properties, strain 960558 is considered to represent a novel genus and species within the family , for which the name gen. nov., sp. nov. is proposed. The type strain of is 960558 (=KCTC 82619=MCCC 1K04727).