4%), C18:1 ω7c (19.8%), and C16:0 (17.0%). The DNA G + C content was 48.6 mol%. The 16S rRNA gene sequence analysis indicated that strain KU41ET is affiliated with the order Alteromonadales within the class Gammaproteobacteria and is most closely related to Pseudoteredinibacter isoporae SW-11T (93.6% similarity) and Teredinibacter turnerae T7902T (91.9% similarity). On the basis of physiological, chemotaxonomic, and phylogenetic data, strain KU41ET is suggested to represent a novel species of a new genus, for which the name Maricurvus nonylphenolicus gen. nov., sp. nov. is proposed. The type strain of M. nonylphenolicus is KU41ET (=JCM 17778T). Contamination of the marine

environment with alkylphenols is of great public concern because of their toxicity and endocrine disrupting activity in humans and marine organisms (David et al., 2009). A number of alkylphenol-degrading AZD9291 order bacteria have been isolated and characterized (Fujii et al., 2001; Ushiba et al., 2003), and the mechanism for alkylphenol degradation has been studied extensively (Corvini et al., 2006; Takeo et al., 2006; Porter & Hay, 2007). However, these Y27632 organisms have mainly been isolated from terrestrial or freshwater sites, and information regarding alkylphenol-degrading bacteria from marine environments is relatively scarce. Here, we report on the isolation and characterization of a novel

marine p-n-nonylphenol-degrading bacterium, strain KU41ET. Comparative 16S rRNA gene sequence analysis indicated that strain KU41ET forms an independent branch within Gammaproteobacteria. Accordingly, the aim of the present work was to determine the exact taxonomic position of strain KU41ET by a polyphasic characterization that included Bortezomib supplier phenotypic and chemotaxonomic properties and detailed phylogenetic analysis based on the 16S rRNA gene sequence. A p-n-nonylphenol-degrading bacterial strain

designated KU41ET was isolated from seawater collected from the coastal region of Ishigaki Island in Japan in December 2009. Marine bacteria were collected from 1 L of the seawater sample by filtration using the membrane filters (diameter 47 mm, pore size 0.45 μm; Nihon Millipore) and then suspended in 3 mL of the commercial artificial seawater medium Daigo’s IMK-SP, which was made by dissolving 252 mg of IMK medium in 1 L of Daigo’s Artificial Seawater SP (Nihon Seiyaku). A 1-mL suspension of the sample was inoculated into 4 mL of Daigo’s IMK-SP supplemented with 10 mM p-n-nonylphenol and incubated at 25 °C on a rotary shaker at 100 r.p.m. After 7 days of enrichment, 4 μL of the culture medium was transferred into a fresh medium and incubated for seven more days. The enriched culture was plated on the same medium solidified with 1.5% (w/v) agar, and the strain was purified by transferring the colony several times onto fresh agar plates. To completely isolate the p-n-nonylphenol-degrading bacterium, a colony was transferred onto a plate of Marine Agar 2216 (MA; Becton Dickinson).