Maritalea mediterranea sp. nov., isolated from marine plastic residues

A novel Gram-reaction-negative, aerobic, motile, rod-shaped, grey bacterium, strain P4.10X^T, was isolated from plastic debris sampled from shallow waters in the Mediterranean Sea (Valencia, Spain). P4.10X^T was catalase- and oxidase-positive, and grew under mesophilic, neutrophilic and halophilic conditions. The 16S rRNA gene sequences revealed that P4.10X^T was closely related to Maritalea myrionectae DSM 19524^T and Maritalea mobilis E6^T (98.25 and 98.03 % sequence similarity, respectively). The DNA G+C content of the genome sequence of P4.10X^T was 53.66 %. The genomic indexes average nucleotide identity by blast (ANIb) and digital DNA-DNA hybridization (dDDH) confirmed its classification as representing a novel species of the genus Maritalea. The predominant fatty acids were summed feature 8 (C_18 : 1ω7c/C_{18 : 1}ω6c) and C_18 : 1 ω7c 11-methyl. The results of this polyphasic study confirm that P4.10X^T represents a novel species of the genus Maritalea, for which the name Maritalea mediterranea sp. nov. is proposed (type strain P4.10X^T=CECT 30306^T = DSM 112386^T).