ORIGINAL RESEARCH article
Front. Microbiol.
Sec. Systems Microbiology
Volume 16 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fmicb.2025.1642517
This article is part of the Research TopicInvestigating the Role of Microorganisms in Ecosystems and Their Interactions with the Humans, Animals, Plants, and Environment InterfaceView all 15 articles
Six new bacterial species isolated from the phycosphere of marine macroalgae: a joint analysis based on taxonomy and polysaccharide utilization loci
Provisionally accepted
Dechen Lu1*
Yuan Ying1
Xin-Yun Tan2
Le Liu2
Jin-Hao Teng2
Xue Cui2
Tian- He Liu2
Jing Zhang2
Zong-Jun Du2*
Ming-yi Wang1*- 1Weihai Municipal Hospital, Weihai, China
- 2Shandong University, Jinan, China
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Marine macroalgae-associated Bacteroidota play crucial roles in global carbon cycling through polysaccharide degradation, yet their taxonomic and functional diversity remains understudied. Here, we describe six novel species (strains 3-376 T , 4-2040 T , 2-473A T , 4-528 T , 4-911 T and 463 T ) within the families Flavobacteriaceae, Crocinitomicaceae, and Cytophagaceae isolated from macroalgal surfaces in the coastal area of Weihai, China. Metagenomic read recruitment and 16S rRNA abundance analyses demonstrated host-specific associations. Integrative taxonomic analyses, including phylogenomics (120 conserved proteins), 16S rRNA sequencing, and chemotaxonomy (e.g., MK-6 quinones, phosphatidylethanolamine lipids, and iso-C15:0 fatty acids), confirmed their novel status, with average amino acid identity (AAI), percentage of conserved proteins (POCP) distinguishing them from related taxa. Genomes (3.3-7.1 Mb; G+C 31.7-45.3%) revealed diverse polysaccharide utilization loci (PULs) targeting algal glycans like laminarin, alginate, and sulfated polymers (ulvan, chondroitin sulfate). Cytophagaceae 463 T harbored the richest CAZyme/PUL repertoire (131 CAZymes, 15 PULs), while Crocinitomicaceae 4-911 T lacked PULs, highlighting family-level specialization. This study expands the known diversity of core phycosphere Bacteroidota, linking PUL evolution to habitat specialization. The novel species' distinct degradative capacities underscore their ecological roles in
Keywords: core phycosphere families, Flavobacteriaeae, Polysaccharide utilization loci, Novel species, Bacteroidota Formatted: Highlight Formatted: Highlight Deleted: (macroalgae) Font color: Black, Highlight Formatted: Highlight Formatted: Highlight Formatted: Font: Italic Font: Italic, Highlight
Received: 06 Jun 2025; Accepted: 01 Jul 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Lu, Ying, Tan, Liu, Teng, Cui, Liu, Zhang, Du and Wang. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence:
Dechen Lu, Weihai Municipal Hospital, Weihai, China
Zong-Jun Du, Shandong University, Jinan, China
Ming-yi Wang, Weihai Municipal Hospital, Weihai, China
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