Hahella chejuensis gen. nov., sp nov., an extracellular-polysaccharide-producing marine bacterium

A bacterial strain, designated 96CJ10356(T), which produced abundant extrac ellular polysaccharides and red pigment was isolated from marine sediment c ollected from Marado, Cheju Island, Republic of Korea. The organism is Gram -negative, aerobic, rod-shaped and motile, Growth was not observed in the a bsence of NaCI, and was optimal at an NaCI concentration of 2%. The strain contained oxidase and catalase, and was able to hydrolyse aesculin and gela tin. The major cellular fatty acids were saturated or monounsaturated strai ght-chain fatty acids. An almost complete 16S rDNA sequence of the test str ain was determined. Phylogenetic analysis based on the neighbour-joining an d Fitch-Margoliash methods indicated that the organism formed a distinct ph yletic line within the gamma Proteobacteria. This relationship was also sup ported by sequence comparison, as no valid bacterial species showed more th an 90% sequence homology with the isolate. It is clear from polyphasic evid ence that the isolate merits the status of genus in the gamma subclass of t he Proteobacteria, and the name Hahella chejuensis gen. nov., sp. nov. is p roposed for the marine isolate 96CJ10356(T) (= KCTC 2396(T) = IMSNU 11157(T )).