Maritalea mediterranea sp. nov., isolated from marine plastic residues

A novel Gram- reaction-negative, aerobic, motile, rod-shaped, grey bacterium, strain P4.10XT, was isolated from plastic debris sampled from shallow waters in the Mediterranean Sea (Valencia, Spain). P4.10XT was catalase-and oxidase-positive, and grew under mesophilic, neutrophilic and halophilic conditions. The 16S rRNA gene sequences revealed that P4.10XT was closely related to Maritalea myrionectae DSM 19524T and Maritalea mobilis E6T (98.25 and 98.03 % sequence similarity, respectively). The DNA G+C content of the genome sequence of P4.10XT was 53.66 %. The genomic indexes average nucleotide identity by BLAsT (ANIb) and digital DNA-DNA hybridization (dDDH) confirmed its classification as representing a novel species of the genus Maritalea. The predominant fatty acids were summed feature 8 (C18:1 omega 7c/C18: 1 omega 6c) and C18: 1 omega 7c 11-methyl. The results of this polyphasic study confirm that P4.10XT represents a novel species of the genus Maritalea, for which the name Maritalea mediter-ranea sp. nov. is proposed (type strain P4.10XT=CECT 30306T = DSM 112386T).