%0 Journal Article %A Thompson, F. L. %A Barash, Y. %A Sawabe, T. %A Sharon, G. %A Swings, J. %A Rosenberg, E. %T Thalassomonas loyana sp. nov., a causative agent of the white plague-like disease of corals on the Eilat coral reef %D 2006 %J International Journal of Systematic and Evolutionary Microbiology, %V 56 %N 2 %P 365-368 %@ 1466-5034 %R https://doi.org/10.1099/ijs.0.63800-0 %I Microbiology Society, %X The taxonomic position of the coral pathogen strain CBMAI 722T was determined on the basis of molecular and phenotypic data. We clearly show that the novel isolate CBMAI 722T is a member of the family Colwelliaceae, with Thalassomonas ganghwensis as the nearest neighbour (95 % 16S rRNA gene sequence similarity). CBMAI 722T can be differentiated from its nearest neighbour on the basis of phenotypic and chemotaxonomic features, including the utilization of cellobiose and l-arginine, the production of alginase and amylase, but not oxidase, and the presence of the fatty acids 12 : 0 3-OH and 14 : 0, but not 10 : 0 or 15 : 0. The DNA G+C content of CBMAI 722T is 39·3 mol%. We conclude that this strain represents a novel species for which we propose the name Thalassomonas loyana sp. nov., with the type strain CBMAI 722T (=LMG 22536T). This is the first report of the involvement of a member of the family Colwelliaceae in coral white plague-like disease. %U https://www.microbiologyresearch.org/content/journal/ijsem/10.1099/ijs.0.63800-0