Alteromonas fortis sp. nov., a non-flagellated bacterium specialized in the degradation of iota-carrageenan, and emended description of the genus Alteromonas.

Strain 1T, isolated in the 1970s from the thallus of the carrageenophytic red algae, Eucheuma spinosum, collected in Hawaii, USA, was characterized using a polyphasic method. Cells were Gram-stain-negative, strictly aerobic, non-flagellated, ovoid or rod-shaped and grew optimally at 20-25 °C, at pH 6-9 and with 2-4 % NaCl. Strain 1T used the seaweed polysaccharides ι-carrageenan, laminarin and alginic acid as sole carbon sources. The major fatty acids were C16 : 0, C18 : 1 ω7c and summed feature 3 (C16 : 1 ω7c and/or iso-C15 : 0 2OH) with significant amounts (>6 %) of C16 : 0 N alcohol and 10 methyl C17 : 0. The respiratory quinone was Q-8 and major polar lipids were phosphatidylethanolamine, phosphatidylglycerol and an unknown aminolipid. Phylogenetic analyses showed that the bacterium is affiliated to the genus Alteromonas (family Alteromonadaceae, class Gammaproteobacteria). Strain 1T exhibited 16S rRNA gene sequence similarity values of 98.8 and 99.2 % to the type strains of Alteromonas mediterranea and Alteromonas australica respectively, and of 95.2-98.6 % to other species of the genus Alteromonas. The DNA G+C content of strain 1T was determined to be 43.9 mol%. Digital DNA-DNA hybridization predictions by the ANI and GGDC methods between strain 1T and other members of the genus Alteromonas showed values below 83 % and 30 %, respectively. The phenotypic, phylogenetic and genomic analyses show that strain 1T is distinct from species of the genus Alteromonas with validly published names and that it represents a novel species of the genus Alteromonas, for which the name Alteromonasfortis sp. nov. is proposed. The type strain is 1T (=ATCC 43554T=RCC 5933T=CIP 111645T=DSM 106819T).