PROPOSAL OF CYCLOBACTERIUM-MARINUS GEN-NOV, COMB-NOV FOR A MARINE BACTERIUM PREVIOUSLY ASSIGNED TO THE GENUS FLECTOBACILLUS

The recent isolation and characterization of two marine strains of Flectobacillus marinus are significant for precise definition of this species, which previously was based on a single strain. Polyphasic taxonomic studies showed that this species is not closely related to the only other species, F. major, of the genus Flectobacillus. Because F. marinus cannot be assigned to any other genus, a new genus, Cyclobacterium, in the family Spirosomaceae is proposed. We recommend that F. marinus be transferred to the new genus, with Cyclobacterium marinus comb. nov. as the type species. The type strain is C. marinus Raj (= ATCC 25205). Descriptions of the new genus and its species, necessitated by this change, and a key for differentiation from other family members are presented together with an emended description of the genus Flectobacillus.