Arenicella chitinivorans sp. nov., a gammaproteobacterium isolated from the sea urchin Strongylocentrotus intermedius.

A strictly aerobic, Gram-stain-negative, rod-shaped, non-motile and yellow-pigmented bacterial strain, designated KMM 6208(T), was isolated from a sea urchin. Phylogenetic analysis based on 16S rRNA gene sequencing revealed that this novel isolate was affiliated to the class Gammaproteobacteria and formed a robust cluster with Arenicella xantha KMM 3895(T) with 98.2 % 16S rRNA gene sequence similarity. Strain KMM 6208(T) grew in the presence of 0.5-5 % NaCl and at a temperature range of 4-38 °C. The isolate was oxidase-positive and hydrolysed aesculin, casein, chitin, gelatin, starch and Tweens 40 and 80. The prevalent fatty acids of strain KMM 6208(T) were C16 : 1ω7c, iso-C16 : 0, iso-C18 : 0, C18 : 1ω7c and C16 : 0. The polar lipids consisted of phosphatidylethanolamine, phosphatidylglycerol, diphosphatidylglycerol and an unidentified aminophospholipid, and the major isoprenoid quinone was Q-8. The DNA G+C content of strain KMM 6208(T) was 46.3 mol%. The DNA-DNA relatedness value of strain KMM 6208(T) with Arenicella xantha KMM 3895(T) was 5 %. Molecular data in a combination with phenotypic findings strongly suggest inclusion of this novel strain in the genus Arenicella as a representative of a novel species for which the name Arenicella chitinivorans sp. nov. is proposed. The type strain is KMM 6208(T) ( = KCTC 12711(T) = LMG 26983(T)).