Gillisia myxillae sp. nov., a novel member of the family Flavobacteriaceae, isolated from the marine sponge Myxilla incrustans

A yellow-pigmented, Gram-negative, rod-shaped, strictly aerobic bacterium (strain UST050418-085^T) was isolated from the surface of a marine sponge, Myxilla incrustans, at Friday Harbor, WA, USA. The DNA G+C content of this strain was 34.6 mol%. The predominant fatty acids were i15:0, a15:0, i15:1, i16:0, i17:0 3-OH, 17:0 2-OH and summed feature 3, comprising i15:0 2-OH and/or 16:1 ω7c (altogether representing 69.0% of the total fatty acids). MK-6 was the only respiratory quinone detected. Phylogenetic analysis based on 16S rRNA gene sequences indicated that the closest relatives of UST050418-085^T were members of the genus Gillisia, with sequence similarities of 93.2-96.6%. Strain UST050418-085^T differed from its closest relatives by 11 to 18 phenotypic traits. Molecular evidence and phenotypic characteristics suggest that strain UST050418-085^T represents a novel species within the genus Gillisia. The name Gillisia myxillae sp. nov. is proposed, with UST050418-085^T (=JCM 13546^T=NRRL B-41416^T) as the type strain.