Natrinema ejinorense sp. nov., isolated from a saline lake in Inner Mongolia, China

A Gram-negative, non-motile, neutrophilic, pleomorphic and extremely halophilic archaeon, strain EJ-57T, was isolated from saline Lake Ejinor in Inner Mongolia, China. Strain EJ-57T was able to grow at 25-50 degrees C, required at least 1.8 M NaCl for growth (optimum at 3.4 M NaCl) and grew over a pH range from 6.0 to 8.5 (optimum at pH 7.0). Hypotonic treatment with less than 1.5 M NaCl caused cell lysis. Analysis of the almost complete 16S rRNA gene sequence indicated that the isolate represented a member of the genus Natrinema in the family Halobacteriaceae. Strain EJ-57T was most closely related to Natrinema versiforme JCM 10478T (96.2% sequence similarity), Natrinema pallidum NCIMB 777T (95.9% sequence similarity), Natrinema altunense JCM 12890T (95.8% sequence similarity) and Natrinema pellirubrum NCIMB 786T (95.5 % sequence similarity). However, DNA-DNA hybridization experiments showed that strain EJ-57T was not related to these species, with levels of DNA-DNA relatedness equal to or below 39%. The major polar lipids of the isolate were C20C20 and C20C25 derivatives of phosphatidylglycerol, phosphatidylglycerol phosphate methyl ester and the disulfated glycolipid S2-DGA-1. The G+C content of the genomic DNA was 64.7 mol%. Comparative analysis of phenotypic characteristics between strain EJ-57T and recognized Natrinema species supported the conclusion that EJ-57T represents a novel species within this genus, for which the name Natrinema ejinorense sp. nov. is proposed. The type strain is EJ-57T (=CECT 7144T=JCM 13890T=CGMCC 1.6202T).