RT Journal Article SR Electronic(1) A1 Kasai, Hiroaki A1 Katsuta, Atsuko A1 Sekiguchi, Hiroshi A1 Matsuda, Satoru A1 Adachi, Kyoko A1 Shindo, Kazutoshi A1 Yoon, Jaewoo A1 Yokota, Akira A1 Shizuri, YoshikazuYR 2007 T1 Rubritalea squalenifaciens sp. nov., a squalene-producing marine bacterium belonging to subdivision 1 of the phylum ‘Verrucomicrobia’ JF International Journal of Systematic and Evolutionary Microbiology, VO 57 IS 7 SP 1630 OP 1634 DO https://doi.org/10.1099/ijs.0.65010-0 PB Microbiology Society, SN 1466-5034, AB A taxonomic study was carried out to clarify the status of a Gram-negative, heterotrophic mesophile that was isolated from the marine sponge Halichondria okadai. The strain, designated HOact23T, was a non-motile, rod-shaped (0.44–0.53×0.65–0.79 μm) bacterium. The strain produced squalene and a red–pink carotenoid pigment. The cell-wall peptidoglycan contained meso-diaminopimelic acid, glutamic acid and alanine. The G+C content of the genomic DNA was 52.4 mol%. The major fatty acids were iso-C14 : 0 (43.1 %), iso-C16 : 0 (20.6 %) and anteiso-C15 : 0 (18.1 %), and the major isoprenoid quinone was MK-9 (90.8 %). Based on 16S rRNA gene sequence data, the strain formed a distinct group within subdivision 1 in the phylum ‘Verrucomicrobia’. It showed a range of phenotypic properties that distinguished it from its closest relative, Rubritalea marina Pol012T (94.3 % 16S rRNA gene sequence similarity). On the basis of polyphasic taxonomic evidence, it was concluded that strain HOact23T should be classified within a novel species in the genus Rubritalea. The name proposed for the taxon is Rubritalea squalenifaciens sp. nov., with the type strain HOact23T (=MBIC08254T=DSM 18772T)., UL https://www.microbiologyresearch.org/content/journal/ijsem/10.1099/ijs.0.65010-0