Salinicoccus kekensis sp. nov., a novel alkaliphile and moderate halophile isolated from Keke Salt Lake in Qinghai, China.

A novel alkaliphilic and moderate halophilic bacterium, designated strain K164(T), was isolated from Keke Salt Lake in Qinghai, China. The strain grew with 2.0-20.0% (w/v) NaCl, at 4-50 degrees C and pH 6.5-11.5, with an optimum of 8% (w/v) NaCl, 37degrees C and pH 10, respectively. The predominant respiratory quinone was menaquinone 6 (MK-6) and the major polar lipid was phosphatidylethanolamine. The major cellular fatty acids were anteiso-C(15:0) and iso-C(15:0). The genomic DNA G+C content was 50.16 mol. Phylogenetic analysis based on the full-length 16S rRNA gene sequence revealed that strain K164(T) was a member of the genus Salinicoccus. Strain K164(T) showed the highest similarity (98.4%) with Salinicoccus alkaliphilus AS 1.2691(T) and below 97% similarity with other recognized members of the genus in 16S rRNA gene sequence. Level of DNA-DNA relatedness between strain K164(T) and Salinicoccus alkaliphilus AS 1.2691(T) was 20.1%. On the basis of its phenotypic characteristics and the level of DNA-DNA hybridization, strain K164(T) is considered to represent a novel species of the genus Salinicoccus, for which the name Salinicoccus kekensis sp. nov. is proposed. The type strain is K164(T) (=CGMCC 1.10337(T) = DSM 23173(T)).