Shewanella corallii sp. nov., a marine bacterium isolated from a Red Sea coral

A marine bacterial strain, designated fav-2-10-05(T), was isolated from the mucus layer of a coral of the genus Favia, collected from the coral reef in the Gulf of Eilat, Israel (29.5 ° N 34.9 ° E). On the basis of 16S rRNA gene sequence comparisons, strain fav-2-10-05(T) was affiliated with the family Shewanellaceae. The closest relatives of strain fav-2-10-05(T) were Shewanella marisflavi SW-117(T) (96.0 % 16S rRNA gene sequence similarity) and Shewanella haliotis DW-1(T) (95.9 %). Strain fav-2-10-05(T) was Gram-negative, rod-shaped and motile by means of a single polar flagellum and formed yellow-brownish colonies within 2 days of incubation at 26°C. Strain fav-2-10-05(T) demonstrated antibacterial activity against indicator strains and grew in the presence of 0.5-8.0 % (w/v) NaCl and at 10-37°C. The major fatty acids were C₁₇:₁ω8c (21.6 %), iso-C₁₅:₀ (18.6 %), C₁₅:₀ (9.1 %) and iso-C₁₃:₀ (8.9 %). The DNA G+C content was 49.1 mol%. The phylogenetic and phenotypic analyses of strain fav-2-10-05(T) suggested that it belongs to a novel species of the genus Shewanella, for which the name Shewanella corallii sp. nov. is proposed. The type strain is fav-2-10-05(T) (=LMG 24563(T) =DSM 21332(T)).