Flavobacterium oncorhynchi sp. nov., a new species isolated from rainbow trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss)

Eighteen isolates of a Gram-negative, catalase and oxidase-positive, rod-shaped bacterium, recovered from diseased rainbow trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss), were characterized, using a polyphasic taxonomic approach. Studies based on comparative 16S rRNA gene sequence analysis showed that that the eighteen new isolates shared 99.2–100% sequence similarities. Phylogenetic analysis revealed that isolates from trout belonged to the genus Flavobacterium, showing the highest sequence similarities to F. chungangense (98.6%), F. frigidimaris (98.1%), F. hercynium (97.9%) and F. aquidurense (97.8%). DNA–DNA reassociation values between the trout isolates (exemplified by strain 631-08T) and five type strains of the most closely related Flavobacterium species exhibited less than 27% similarity. The G + C content of the genomic DNA was 33.0 mol%. The major respiratory quinone was observed to be menaquinone 6 (MK-6) and iso-C15:0, C15:0 and C16:1ω7c the predominant fatty acids. The polar lipid profile of strain 631-08T consisted of phosphatidylethanolamine, unknown aminolipids AL1 and AL3, lipids L1, L2, L3 and L4 and phospholipid PL1. The novel isolates were differentiated from related Flavobacterium species by physiological and biochemical tests. On the basis of the evidence from this polyphasic study, it is proposed that the isolates from rainbow trout be classified as a new species of the genus Flavobacterium, Flavobacterium oncorhynchi sp. nov. The type strain is 631-08T (=CECT 7678T = CCUG 59446T).