Halomonas salifodinae sp. nov., a halophilic bacterium isolated from a salt mine in China

A Gram-negative, aerobic, motile, halophilic bacterium, designated strain BC7^T, was isolated from a salt mine in north-western China and was subjected to a polyphasic taxonomic characterization. The isolate was able to grow in the presence of 0.5-20% (w/v) NaCl and at pH 6.0-9.0 and 4-48 °C; optimum growth was observed with 3% (w/v) NaCl and at pH 7.0 and 30 °C. Cells were long rods, 0.8-1.2 μm wide and 4.0-6.0 μm long. The major fatty acids were C_18:1ω7c, C₁'6_:0 and C_16:0ω7c. The DNA G+C content was 65.5 mol%. Phylogenetic analysis based on 16S rRNA gene sequences showed that strain BC7^T belonged to the genus Halomonas and showed highest sequence similarity to the type strain of Halomonas pacifica (99.2 %). Levels of DNA-DNA relatedness between strain BC7^T and H. pacifica CGMCC 1.2314^T and Halomonas taeanensis DSM 16463^T were 51 and 38%, respectively. On the basis of phenotypic and genotypic data, strain BC7^T is considered to represent a novel species of the genus Halomonas, for which the name Halomonas salifodinae sp. nov. is proposed. The type strain is BC7^T (=5CGMCC 1.6774^T =JCM 14803^T).