An aerobic, Gram-stain negative, rod-shaped, non-motile bacterium, designated as strain HQA918T, was isolated from an ascidian, Botryllus schlosseri, which was collected from the coast of Weihai in the north of the Yellow Sea, in China. The strain grew optimally at 28-30 °C, at pH values 7.0-8.0, and in the presence of 1.0-3.0% (w/v) sodium chloride (NaCl). A phylogenetic analysis based on 16S rRNA gene sequences showed that strain HQA918T can be affiliated with the family Flavobacteriaceae in the phylum Bacteroidetes, with 92.7% similarity to its close relatives. The major fatty acids identified were iso-C15:0, iso-C15:0 3-OH, and summed feature 3 (iso-C15:0 2-OH and/or C16:1ω7c). The major polar lipids were phosphatidylethanolamine, one unidentified aminolipid, and five unidentified polar lipids. The G+C content of the genomic DNA was 44.1 mol%. On the basis of the phylogenetic, genotypic, phenotypic, and chemotaxonomic data, this organism should be classified as a representative of a novel genus, for which the name Ascidiaceibacter gen. nov. is proposed. The type species is Ascidiaceibacter salegens sp. nov. (type strain HQA918T = KCTC 52719T = MCCC 1K03259T).
Keywords: Ascidiaceibacter salegens; Ascidian; Bacterium; Flavobacteriaceae; Polyphasic taxonomic.