Pasteurella skyensis sp. nov., isolated from Atlantic salmon (Salmo salar L.)

From four separate incidents of disease in farmed Atlantic salmon over a four-year period, gram-negative rod-shaped bacteria were consistently isolated by culture on sea-water blood agar. Biochemical and physiological tests indicated that the organism was related to the family Pasteurellaceae, and this was confirmed from the 16S rRNA gene sequence. Comparison of the 16S rRNA gene sequence with those of 45 members of the Pasteurellaceae showed that the closest phylogenetic relationship was with an organism termed 'Pasteurella phocoenarum', isolated from a porpoise, for which the 16S rRNA gene sequence has been recorded but for which the properties have yet to be published. It is proposed that this bacterium isolated from salmon should be classified as a new species, namely Pasteurella skyensis sp. nov. The type strain of Pasteurella skyensis sp. nov. is strain 95A1T (= NCTC 13204T = NCIMB 13593T).