Isolation, identification and characterization of new luminous bacteria from Chah Bahar Port, southern marine habitat of Iran

Coastal region of Chah Bahar port, Sea of Oman, was screened for the presence of bioluminescence bacteria for the first time. Water samples were taken from surface and subsurface layers and immediately spread on nutrient seawater complete (SWC) agar. Luminous colonies were observed after an overnight incubation at 25°C. Among twenty luminous isolates, four of them were selected for preliminary bacterial identification based on morphological and physiological characteristics. 16S rRNA genes of selected bacteria were then sequenced in order to be submitted in GeneBank database as new strains and performing phylogenetic analysis. Four different submitted bacterial strains are as follow, Vibrio sp. Persian 1, Vibrio sp. Persian 2, Vibrio sp. Persian 3, and Vibrio sp. Persian 4 with accession numbers of KC505639, KC765088, KC765089, and KC896417, respectively. Light emission of isolated luminous bacteria was measured using luminometer. Vibrio sp. Persian 1was found as the best light emitter with counts per second/OD 600 nm equal to 10 × 10 6 RLU/Sec/OD. Isolated Vibrio species were tested for their ability to form biofilm. Vibrio sp. Persian 3 showed weak ability to produce biofilm while other species were considered as moderate biofilm producers.