Isolation and Characterization of Novel Alginate-Degrading Pseudoalteromonas sp. Y-4

To isolate an alginate-degrading bacterium, we conducted a single colony isolation using a solid medium containing alginate as the sole carbon source. A marine bacterium Y-4 capable of degrading alginate was isolated from seawater. The strain was identified to be Pseudoalteromonas sp., based on morphological, biochemical, 16S rDNA homology, and phylogenetic analyses. Moreover, Pseudoalteromonas sp. Y-4 exhibited alginate lyase activity in the presence of 4% alginate even though many known alginate-degrading bacteria degrade in the range of 0.5-1% alginate. The optimum culture conditions for the Y-4 strain were 2% alginate, pH 8.0, and 3% NaCl at $30^{\circ}C$. The highest alginate lyase activity was also observed under the same conditions. To our knowledge, this is the first reported isolation of a marine bacterium degrading high concentrations of alginate.