Vibrio jasicida sp. nov., a member of the Harveyi clade, isolated from marine animals (packhorse lobster, abalone and Atlantic salmon)

Abstract

Six isolates of a facultatively anaerobic bacterium were recovered in culture from marine invertebrates and vertebrates, including packhorse lobster (Jasus verreauxi), abalone (Haliotis sp.) and Atlantic salmon (Salmo salar), between 1994 and 2002. The bacteria were Gram-negative, rod-shaped and motile by means of more than one polar flagellum, oxidase-positive, catalase-positive and able to grow in the presence of 0.5-8.0% NaCl (optimum 3.0-6.0%) and at 10-37 °C (optimum 25-30 °C). On the basis of 16S rRNA gene sequence analysis and multilocus sequence analysis (MLSA) using five loci (2443 bp; gyrB, pyrH, ftsZ, mreB and gapA), the closest phylogenetic neighbours of strain TCFB 0772(T) were the type strains of Vibrio communis (99.8 and 94.6 % similarity, respectively), Vibrio owensii (99.8 and 94.1%), Vibrio natriegens (99.4 and 88.8%), Vibrio parahaemolyticus (99.4 and 90.3%), Vibrio rotiferianus (99.2 and 94.4%), Vibrio alginolyticus (99.1 and 89.3%) and Vibrio campbellii (99.1 and 92.3%). DNA-DNA hybridization confirmed that the six isolates constitute a unique taxon that is distinct from other known species of Vibrio. In addition, this taxon can be readily differentiated phenotypically from other Vibrio species. The six isolates therefore represent a novel species, for which the name Vibrio jasicida sp. nov. is proposed; the novel species is represented by the type strain TCFB 0772(T) ( = JCM 16453(T) = LMG 25398(T)) (DNA G+C content 45.9 mol%) and reference strains TCFB 1977 ( = JCM 16454) and TCFB 1000 ( = JCM 16455).