Thalassorhabdus alkalitolerans gen. nov., sp. nov., a novel Bacillaceae member isolated from marine sediment.

A novel Gram-stain-variable, rod-shaped, non-motile and non-endospore-forming bacterium (strain G27) was isolated from near Dhuvaran, Gujarat, India. Based on 16S rRNA gene sequence analysis, strain G27 was identified as a member of the class Firmibacteria and was most closely related to Bacillus populi FJAT-45347 (94.9 % sequence similarity), Salipaludibacillus aurantiacus S9 (94.9 %), Salipaludibacillus neizhouensis KCTC 13187 (94.7 %), Alteribacillus iranensis DSM 23995 (94.6 %) and other Firmibacteria (<94.6 %). The DNA G+C content of strain G27 was 43.4±0.6 mol%. The cell-wall peptidoglycan contained meso-diaminopimelic acid. Polar lipids included diphosphatidylglycerol, phosphatidylglycerol, phosphatidylethanolamine, one unidentified phospholipid and five unidentified lipids. The predominant isoprenoid quinone was menaquinone MK-7. Major fatty acids (>5 %) included anteiso-C15:0, iso-C15 : 0, anteiso-C17:0, C16 : 0 and iso-C16 : 0. The results of phylogenetic, chemotaxonomic and biochemical tests allowed the clear differentiation of strain G27 from all other members of the family Bacillaceae.It is therefore considered to represent a novel species of a new genus, for which the name Thalassorhabdus alkalitolerans gen. nov., sp. nov., is proposed. The type strain of Thalassorhabdus alkalitolerans is G27 (=MCC 3411=CGMCC 1.15772=KCTC 33941).