Isolation and identification of a novel alginate-degrading bacterium, Ochrobactrum sp.

Abstract

An alginate-degrading bacterium, identified as Ochrobactrum sp. on the basis of 16S rDNA gene sequencing, was isolated from brown algal samples collected from the waters in close vicinity to the Dongtou Isles in the East China Sea. The strain, designated WZUH09-1, is a short rod, gram-negative, obligatory aerobic, grows under the following conditions: 5-40oC, pH 3-9, and 0-2 times of the seawater concentration, and is able to depolymerize alginates with higher enzyme activity than that of others reported so far.

Keywords

• <em>Ochrobacterium</em>
• alginate
• identification
• degradation