Abstract
Three bacterial strains were isolated from liver and spleen of diseased farmed redbanded seabream (Pagrus auriga) in south-west Spain. Their partial 16S rRNA gene sequences clustered within those of the genus Photobacterium , showing high similarity (98.6–99.3 %) to the type strains of Photobacterium iliopiscarium , P. piscicola , P. kishitanii , P. aquimaris and P. phosphoreum . Multilocus sequence analysis using six housekeeping genes (gapA, topA, mreB, ftsZ, gyrB and 16S rRNA) confirmed the new strains as forming an independent branch with a bootstrap value of 100, likely to represent a novel species. To confirm this, we used whole genome sequencing and genomic analysis (ANIb, ANIm and in silico DNA–DNA hybridization) obtaining values well below the thresholds for species delineation. In addition, a phenotypic characterization was performed to support the description and differentiation of the novel strains from related taxa. Cells were Gram-stain-negative, motile bacilli, chemo-organotrophic and ...