Saccharophagus degradans gen. nov., sp. nov., a versatile marine degrader of complex polysaccharides

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Abstract
Gammaproteobacteria belonging and related to the genusMicrobulbiferare an emerging group of complex carbohydrate-degrading marine bacteria. Previously, all of the representatives were placed withinMicrobulbiferor were unclassified. Recently, a new genus,Teredinibacter, represented by a single species,Teredinibacter turnerae, was formed to include an endosymbiotic branch of these organisms. In this study, based on 16S rRNA gene sequence similarity and phenotypic analyses, a new genus,Saccharophagus, is proposed to accommodate the most versatile marine carbohydrate degrader yet identified,Saccharophagus degradansgen. nov., sp. nov. 2-40T(=ATCC 43961T=DSM 17024T).S. degradansstrain 2-40Tcan degrade 10 tested complex polysaccharides: agar, alginate, chitin, cellulose, fucoidan, laminarin, pectin, pullulan, starch and xylan.S. degradans2-40Tshares 90·5 % 16S rRNA gene sequence similarity with the type strain of theMicrobulbifertype species,Microbulbifer hydrolyticusIRE-31T, and 91·5 % withT. turneraeT7902T, and can be further distinguished from members of these two genera by 16S rRNA gene cluster analysis, the ability to utilize 10 different complex polysaccharides as sole carbon sources, a significantly lower G+C content and differences in fatty acid content. The three genera of complex polysaccharide-degrading, marine bacteria now encompass 20 strains from diverse marine niches.