Description of Cellulophaga algicola sp nov., isolated from the surfaces of Antarctic algae, and reclassification of Cytophaga uliginosa (ZoBell and Upham 1944) Reichenbach 1989 as Cellulophaga uliginosa comb. nov.

A group of strains with potent extracellular enzymic activity were isolated from the surfaces of the chain-forming sea-ice diatom Melosira and from an unidentified macrophyte collected from the Eastern Antarctic coastal zone, 16S rDNA sequence analysis indicated that the strains belonged to the genu s Cellulophaga and showed greatest similarity to the species Cellulophaga b altica (sequence similarity 97%), Phenotypic characteristics, DNA base comp osition and DNA-DNA hybridization values clearly separate the Antarctic str ains from Cellulophaga baltica and other Cellulophaga species. Thus, the st rains form a distinct and novel species and have the proposed name Cellulop haga algicola sp. nov. (type strain IC166(T) = ACAM 630(T)). In addition, i t was recognized that the species Cytophaga uliginosa (ZoBell and Upham 194 4) Reichenbach 1989, a species phylogenetically remote from the type specie s of the genus Cytophaga, possessed 16S rDNA sequences and phenotypic and c hemotaxonomic traits similar to those of other Cellulophaga species. thus, it was proposed that the species Cytophaga uliginosa be renamed as Cellulop haga uliginosa comb. nov.