Downloaded from www.microbiologyresearch.org by IP: 54.70.40.11 On: Fri, 07 Dec 2018 21:24:00 Alteromonas hispanica sp. nov., a polyunsaturated- fatty-acid-producing, halophilic bacterium isolated from Fuente de Piedra, southern Spain Fernando Martı ´nez-Checa, Victoria Be ´ jar, Inmaculada Llamas, Ana del Moral and Emilia Quesada Correspondence Emilia Quesada equesada@ugr.es Microbial Exopolysaccharide Research Group, Department of Microbiology, Faculty of Pharmacy, Cartuja Campus, University of Granada, 18071 Granada, Spain Strain F-32 T , which produces exopolysaccharides and contains polyunsaturated fatty acids, was isolated from a hypersaline water sample collected from Fuente de Piedra (southern Spain). Phylogenetic analyses indicated conclusively that the strain in question belonged to the genus Alteromonas. Phenotypic tests showed that it could be assigned to the genus Alteromonas although it had a number of distinctive characteristics: it is moderately halophilic, growing best with 7?5–10 % w/v NaCl; it grows at 4 6C and produces H 2 S; it does not grow with D-cellobiose, D-fructose, D-galactose, D-glucose or lactose as sole sources of carbon and energy; and its fatty-acid profile is typical of Alteromonas but it also contains a large amount of an unusual acid with three double bonds [18 : 3v6c (6, 9, 12); 5?01 %, w/v]. The major isoprenoid quinone is Q 8 . The DNA G+C content is 46?3 mol%. The phylogenetic, phenotypic and genetic properties of strain F-32 T place it within a novel species, for which the name Alteromonas hispanica sp. nov. is proposed. The type strain is F-32 T (=CECT 7067 T =LMG 22958 T ). The genus Alteromonas was isolated and named by Baumann et al. (1972) [description emended by Gauthier et al. (1995) and later by Van Trappen et al. (2004)] and originally con- tained a phylogenetically and phenotypically heterogeneous group of Gram-negative, heterotrophic, marine bacteria, motile by a single polar flagellum. Many of its species, however, have gradually been reclassified into other genera such as Marinomonas, Pseudoalteromonas and Shewanella (Van Landschoot & de Ley, 1983; MacDonell & Colwell, 1985; Coyne et al., 1989; Gauthier et al., 1995; Sawabe et al., 2000; Ivanova et al., 2000, 2001). Nowadays Alteromonas comprises only four recognized species: Alteromonas macleodii (Baumann et al., 1972, 1984; Gauthier et al., 1995; Yi et al., 2004), Alteromonas marina (Yoon et al., 2003), Alteromonas stellipolaris (Van Trappen et al., 2004) and Alteromonas litorea (Yoon et al., 2004). Together with the genera Glaciecola (Bowman et al., 1998) and Aestuarii- bacter (Yi et al., 2004), it is included within the family Alteromonadaceae (Ivanova et al., 2004). The members of the Alteromonadaceae are Gram-negative, rod-shaped, motile bacteria that do not form endospores or microcysts. They are chemo-organotrophs, have a respiratory metabolism and use oxygen as electron acceptor. They do not denitrify or have dihydrolase activity. All the species require Na + for growth and in most of them the major isoprenoid quinone is Q 8 . The major fatty acids are 16 : 0, 16 : 1v7c and 18 : 1v7c. All the species have been isolated from marine habitats (coastal sea waters and marine invertebrates). The family is a member of the Gammaproteobacteria with the following nucleotide sequence characteristics: 304 (A), 734 (A), 736 (T), 770 (T), 809 (A). The type genus is Alteromonas (Ivanova et al., 2004). Van Trappen et al. (2004) made the last emended descrip- tion of Alteromonas, which was based on Gauthier et al. (1995), when they discovered that members of the genus were prosthecate, budding bacteria. In addition to the traits reported for the family, the genus also includes bacteria which are catalase- and oxidase-positive, unpigmented and not luminescent. Species of the genus do not usually grow at 4 u C, do not accumulate poly-b-hydroxybutyrate (PHB) and require a sea-water base for growth but not organic growth factors. A. macleodii, A. marina and A. stellipolaris produce buds and prostheca when they grow at low temperatures (12–20 u C) for 3 or more days in complex media with added sea salts. The G+C content of the DNA is 44 to 47 mol%. The type species is A. macleodii. Abbreviations: EPS, exopolysaccharide; PHB, poly-b-hydroxybutyrate; PUFA, polyunsaturated fatty acid. Published online ahead of print on 15 July 2005 as DOI 10.1099/ ijs.0.63809-0. The GenBank/EMBL/DDBJ accession number for the 16S rRNA gene sequence of Alteromonas hispanica F-32 T is AY926460. 63809 G 2005 IUMS Printed in Great Britain 2385 International Journal of Systematic and Evolutionary Microbiology (2005), 55, 2385–2390 DOI 10.1099/ijs.0.63809-0