sp. nov., isolated from an inland brine spring in Northern England.

A novel slightly halophilic Gram-stain-negative bacterial strain (MKS20) was isolated from a brine sample collected from one of the Anderton brine springs in the Cheshire salt district, located in Northern England. Phylogenetic analysis of the 16S rRNA gene sequence revealed a close proximity to (98.30 %), followed by (96.62 %), the two currently described species within the genus . Strain MKS20 forms white-beige-pigmented colonies and grows optimally at 28-30 °C, in 1-3 % (w/v) NaCl and at pH 7-7.5. The strain was facultatively anaerobic and showed a broader range of carbohydrate use than other species in the genus . Q-8 was the sole respiratory quinone and the major fatty acids (>10 %) were summed feature 3 (C ω6 and/or C ω7) and C. The polar lipid profile included diphosphatidylglycerol, phosphatidylethanolamine, phosphatidyglycerol and several unidentified lipids. The G+C content of the genomic DNA was 44.2 mol%. Average nucleotide identity and DNA-DNA hybridization data were consistent with assignment to a separate species. Based on the phylogenetic and genomic-based analyses, as well as physiological and biochemical characteristics, we propose that strain MKS20 (=DSM 109936, MCCC 1K04071) represents a new species of the genus , with the name sp. nov.