Halomonas salifodinae sp. nov., a halophilic bacterium isolated from a salt mine in China.

A Gram-negative, aerobic, motile, halophilic bacterium, designated strain BC7(T), was isolated from a salt mine in north-western China and was subjected to a polyphasic taxonomic characterization. The isolate was able to grow in the presence of 0.5-20 % (w/v) NaCl and at pH 6.0-9.0 and 4-48 degrees C; optimum growth was observed with 3 % (w/v) NaCl and at pH 7.0 and 30 degrees C. Cells were long rods, 0.8-1.2 microm wide and 4.0-6.0 microm long. The major fatty acids were C(18 : 1)omega7c, C(16 : 0) and C(16 : 0)omega7c. The DNA G+C content was 65.5 mol%. Phylogenetic analysis based on 16S rRNA gene sequences showed that strain BC7(T) belonged to the genus Halomonas and showed highest sequence similarity to the type strain of Halomonas pacifica (99.2 %). Levels of DNA-DNA relatedness between strain BC7(T) and H. pacifica CGMCC 1.2314(T) and Halomonas taeanensis DSM 16463(T) were 51 and 38 %, respectively. On the basis of phenotypic and genotypic data, strain BC7(T) is considered to represent a novel species of the genus Halomonas, for which the name Halomonas salifodinae sp. nov. is proposed. The type strain is BC7(T) (=CGMCC 1.6774(T) =JCM 14803(T)).