| Nisaea | |
|---|---|
| Scientific classification | |
| Domain: | Bacteria |
| Phylum: | "Proteobacteria" |
| Class: | Alphaproteobacteria |
| Order: | Rhodospirillales |
| Family: | Rhodospirillaceae |
| Genus: | Nisaea |
| Type species | |
| N. denitrificans |
|
Nisaea is a genus in the phylum Proteobacteria (Bacteria),[1] which contains two[2] species, namely N. denitrificans and N. nitritireducens, which were described in 2008.[3]
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Like all Proteobacteria the two species stain Gram-negative.([3],cf.[4]) They were isolated from coastal, surface waters of the north-western Mediterranean Sea, specifically on February 2004 at the SOLA station located in the bay of Banyuls-sur-Mer (42 2.99 N 3 0.89 E) at a depth of 3 metres.[3] The cells are motile pleomorphic rods that are 2.9 μm long and 0.9 μm wide.[3] When grown on marine agar medium, they form cream colonies (i.e. no pigmentation). Apart from standard genetic differences for species (98% 16S, 55% DNA-DNA), the two species differ in that Nisaea denitrificans can fully denitrify whereas Nisaea nitritireducens cannot only reduce nitrite.[3]
The name Nisaea derives from:
Latin feminine gender noun Nisaea, nymph of the sea, referring to the marine origin (Mediterranean sea).[3] Nicaea is in fact a sea nymph and daughter of the river-god Sangarius and Cybele. Whereas the specific epithets, refer to: