Nereida ignava gen. nov., sp. nov., a novel aerobic marine alpha-proteobacterium that is closely related to uncultured Prionitis (alga) gall symbionts.

A Gram-negative, slightly halophilic, non-pigmented, strictly aerobic, chemo-organotrophic bacterium was isolated from Mediterranean sea water off the Spanish coast near Valencia. This strain was poorly reactive, being unable to grow in most carbon sources analysed in minimal medium. However, good growth was observed when more complex media and longer incubation times were used. Phylogenetic analysis based on an almost complete 16S rRNA gene sequence placed strain 2SM4T within the Roseobacter group, in the vicinity of uncultured bacteria described as gall symbionts of several species of the red alga Prionitis. Sequence similarity values between strain 2SM4T and the closest neighbouring spec…