Maribacter halichondrissp. nov., isolated from the marine spongeHalichondria panicea

A new member of the family Flavobacteriaceae (termed Hal144 T ) was isolated from the marine breadcrumb sponge Halichondria panicea . Sponge material was collected in 2018 at Schilksee which is located in the Kiel Fjord (Baltic Sea, Germany). Phylogenetic analysis of the full-length Hal144 T 16S rRNA gene sequence revealed similarities from 94.3% - 96.6% to the nearest type strains of the genus Maribacter . The phylogenetic tree depicted a cluster of strain Hal144 T with its closest relatives Maribacter aestuarii GY20 T (96.6%) and Maribacter thermophilus HT7-2 T (96.3%). Genome comparisons of strain Hal144 T with Maribacter spp. type strains exhibited average nucleotide identities in the range of 75% - 76% and digital DNA-DNA hybridization values in the range of 13.1% - 13.4%. Strain Hal144 T was determined to be Gram-negative, mesophilic, strictly aerobic, flexirubin positive, resistant to aminoglycoside antibiotics, and able to utilize N-acetyl-β-D-glucosamine. Optimal growth occurred at 25 – 30 °C, within a salinity range of 2 - 6% sea salt, and a pH range between 5 - 8. The major fatty acids identified were C 17 : 0 3-OH, iso-C 15 : 0 , and iso-C 15:1 G. The DNA G+C content of strain Hal144 T was 41.4 mol%. Based on the polyphasic approach, strain Hal144 T represents a novel species of the genus Maribacter , and we propose the name Maribacter halichondris sp. nov.. The type strain is Hal144 T (= DSM 114563 T = LMG 32744 T ).