Kriegella aquimaris gen. nov., sp. nov., isolated from marine environments

Two novel marine, heterotrophic, gliding, Gram-negative, aerobic and orange-pigmented strains were investigated by using a polyphasic approach. 16S rRNA gene sequence analysis indicated an affiliation of the novel isolates to the family Flavobacteriaceae of the phylum Bacteroidetes. The level of sequence similarity between the strains studied and their closest relatives, the recognized Zobellia species, ranged from 93.2 to 93.9 %. Phylogenetic evidence, supported by several differences in phenotypic characteristics between the novel isolates and Zobellia species such as the absence of nitrate reductase, agarase and gelatinase activities together with the ability to produce acid from galactose, lactose and melibiose, allowed their assignment to a new genus and species, for which the name Kriegella aquimaris gen. nov., sp. nov. is proposed. The type strain of Kriegella aquimaris is KMM 3665(T) (=KCTC 22188(T) =DSM 19886(T)).