Marinobacters belong to a ubiquitous marine genus described in 1992 by the Centre d'Oceanologie de Marseille. This genus seems ubiquitous in marine environments because several strains have been isolated or detected from biotopes which are very diverse in terms of geographic and physiochemical characteristics (hypersaline bacterial mats, marine hot-water springs in Japan, or cold seawater as in Arctic and Antarctic regions). The metabolic versatility of Marinobacters allows them to use substrates reputed to be recalcitrant to degradation such as hydrocarbons as carbon and energy sources, and a large number of publications have analyzed this unusual type of metabolism.

The type strain, Marinobacter hydrocarbonoclasticus, exhibits remarkable physiological characteristics. It is capable of growing as a free planktonic form, or it may remain fixed and form biofilms. It degrades some hydrocarbons. It is extremely halotolerant, and produces an osmoprotectant, ectoin.
Like many other Marinobacters, it is a facultative and denitrifying aerobe. Furthermore, it synthesizes an extracelllular phosphatase.

The sequencing of the type strain will lead to a better comprehension of the genes implicated in the assimilation of carbon sources which are simple and labile (OOB, Banyuls), or recalcitrant such as hydrocarbons (LEM, Pau), in the synthesis of extracellular enzymes (IBSM-Marseille), in the formation of biofilms (LEM, Pau); and in the mechanisms of adaptation to salt (LMGEM, Marseille). This study will lead to a major advance in the understanding of the fundamental metabolism of a ubiquitous marine micro-organism.