sp. nov., isolated from saline soil in Yingkou, China.

A novel Gram-stain-positive, facultatively aerobic, slightly halophilic, endospore-forming bacterium, designated G6-18, was isolated from saline soil collected in Yingkou, Liaoning, PR China. Cells of strain G6-18 grew at 10-37 °C (optimum, 30 °C), at pH 6.0-9.0 (optimum, pH 8.0) and in the presence of 2-15 % (w/v) NaCl (optimum, 5 %). The strain could be clearly distinguished from the related species of the genus by its phylogenetic position and biochemical characteristics. It presented MK-7 as the major quinone and the dominant cellular fatty acids were iso-C, anteiso-C, C and iso-C. The polar lipids consisted of diphosphatidylglycerol and phosphatidylglycerol as the major components. The G+C content of strain G6-18 genome was 35.3 mol%. 16S rRNA analysis showed that strain G6-18 had the highest similarity to DSM 15140, reaching 97.0 %, followed by CGMCC 1.6333 with a value of 96.3 %. The average nucleotide identity values between strain G6-18 and DSM 15140, KCTC 33762, CGMCC 1.6333 and DSM 107811 were 74.3, 72.0, 73.2 and 72.8 %, respectively, and the digital DNA-DNA hybridization values between strain G6-18 and the neighbouring strains were 15.6, 13.8, 14.2 and 14.2 %, respectively. Based on phenotypic, chemotaxonomic and phylogenetic inferences, strain G6-18 represents a novel species of the genus , for which the name sp. nov. (=CGMCC 1.12058=DSM 25428) is proposed.