Characterization of Carnobacterium divergens strain 6251 isolated from intestine of Arctic charr (Salvelinus alpinus L.)

An atypical strain of Carnobacterium divergens, strain 6251, was isolated from the small intestine of Arctic charr (Salvelinus alpinus L.), fed high dietary carbohydrate. This strain showed marked growth inhibitory effects in vitro against the fish pathogens Aeromonas salmonicida subsp. salmonicida (furunculosis), Vibrio anguillarum (vibriosis) and Vibrio viscocus (winter ulcer). The strain is a non-motile Gram-positive psychrotrophic rod that lacks both catalase and oxidase, grows at pH 9.1 (CTAS agar), but not on acetate containing media (pH < or = 5.4), on TCBS or at < or =6% sodium chloride content. Strain 6251 is facultatively anaerobic and utilises tryptone as a sole source of nutrient. Further characterisation showed the most abundant cellular fatty acid of strain 6251 to be oleic acid (18:1) (n-9) (36.0%). Sequencing of a 16S rDNA region of 578 nucleotides and AFLP microbial fingerprinting suggested that strain 6251 is not closely related to any carnobacteria known, however, DNA-DNA similarity determinations showed high similarity (96.2%) with the type strain of Carnobacterium divergens. The unique phenotypic attributes of this strain represent new information on the biodiversity and ecology of carnobacteria and especially of the species C. divergens.