Bizionia arctica sp. nov., isolated from Arctic fjord seawater, and emended description of the genus Bizionia

A Gram-stain-negative, yellow-pigmented, aerobic, non-flagellated, non-gliding bacterial strain, designated SM1203T, was isolated from surface seawater of Kongsfjorden, Svalbard. Phylogenetic analysis based on 16S rRNA gene sequences revealed that strain SM1203T was affiliated with the genus Bizionia in the family Flavobacteriaceae. The strain shared the highest 16S rRNA gene sequence similarity (>96 %) with the type strains of Formosa spongicola (96.8 %), Bizionia paragorgiae (96.3 %), B. saleffrena (96.3 %) and B. echini (96.1 %) and 95.4–95.7 % sequence similarity with the type strains of other known species of the genus Bizionia. The strain grew at 4–30 °C and in the presence of 1.0–5.0 % (w/v) NaCl. The major fatty acids of strain SM1203T were iso-C15 : 0, iso-C15 : 1, anteiso-C15 : 0 and C15 : 0 and the main polar lipids were phosphatidylethanolamine and an unidentified lipid. The major respiratory quinone of strain SM1203T was menaquinone 6 (MK-6). The genomic DNA G+C content of strain SM1203T was 34.8 mol%. Based on the polyphasic characterization of strain SM1203T in this study, the strain represents a novel species in the genus Bizionia, for which the name Bizionia arctica sp. nov. is proposed. The type strain is SM1203T ( = CGMCC 1.12751T = JCM 30333T). An emended description of the genus Bizionia is also given.