sp. nov., a moderate halophile isolated from saline soil in Northwest China.

A moderately halophilic strain, designated SCU50, was recovered from a saline soil sample and characterized by a polyphasic approach. The 16S rRNA gene sequence analysis showed that strain SCU50 belonged to the genus and was most closely related to TP2-8 (98.1 % similarity) and XH-63 (97.7 %). Genomic average nucleotide identity and digital DNA-DNA hybridization analyses confirmed the separate species status of the new isolate relative to other recognized species. The genome size was about 5.09 Mbp and the DNA G+C content was 36.7 mol%. The strain grew optimally at 10-15 % (w/v) NaCl, pH 6.5-7.5 and 25-30 °C. It contained anteiso-C, iso-C and anteiso-C as the dominant fatty acids and menaquinone-7 as the major respiratory quinone. The polar lipid profile was examined and found to comprise diphosphatidylglycerol, phosphatidylglycerol, one unidentified phospholipid and one unidentified lipid. The cell-wall peptidoglycan type was A1γ based on -diaminopimelic acid. Combining the data from phenotypic, chemotaxonomic, genomic and phylogenetic characterization, it was concluded that strain SCU50 should be assigned as representing a novel species within the genus . Thus, a novel taxon named sp. nov. was first established, with SCU50 (=CGMCC 1.17336=KCTC 43107) as the type strain.