Genome taxonomy of the genus Neptuniibacter and proposal of Neptuniibacter victor sp. nov. isolated from sea cucumber larvae

Abstract

A Gram-staining-negative, oxidase-positive, strictly aerobic rod-shaped bacterium, designated strain PT1T, was isolated from the laboratory-reared larvae of the sea cucumber Apostichopus japonicus. A phylogenetic analysis based on the 16S rRNA gene nucleotide sequences revealed that PT1T was closely related to Neptuniibacter marinus ATR 1.1T (= CECT 8938T = DSM 100783T) and Neptuniibacter caesariensis MED92T (= CECT 7075T = CCUG 52065T) showing 98.2% and 98.1% sequence similarity, respectively. However, the average nucleotide identity (ANI) and in silico DNA-DNA hybridization (DDH) values among these three strains were 72.0%-74.8% and 18.3%-19.5% among related Neptuniibacter species, which were below 95% and 70%, respectively, confirming the novel status of PT1T. The average amino acid identity (AAI) values of PT1T showing 74–77% among those strains indicated PT1T is a new species in the genus Neptuniibacter. Based on the genome-based taxonomic approach, Neptuniibacter victor sp. nov. is proposed for PT1T. The type strain is PT1T (JCM 35563T = LMG 32868T).