Haloterrigena jeotgali sp. nov., an extremely halophilic archaeon from salt-fermented food

A novel red-pigmented halophilic archaeon, strain A29T, was isolated from shrimp jeotgal, a traditional salt-fermented food from Korea. This strain grows in the ranges 10-30% (w/v) NaCl, 17-50 degrees C and pH 6.5-8.5, with optimal growth occurring at 15-20% NaCl, 37-45 degrees C and pH 7.0-7.5. The isolate is Gram-negative and non-motile. Phylogenetic analysis, based on 16S rRNA gene sequences, showed that strain A29T is associated with the genus Haloterrigena and closely related to the species Haloterrigena thermotolerans (99.0% similarity). However, DNA-DNA hybridization experiments revealed that the level of hybridization between strain A29T and related strains of Haloterrigena is less than 70%. The polar lipid fraction consists of phosphatidylglyerol (PG), phosphatidylglycerol phosphate methyl ester (PGP-Me) and mannose-2,6-disulfate(1-2)-glucose glycerol diether (S2-DGD). The G+C content of genomic DNA of the type strain is 62.3 mol%. On the basis of this polyphasic taxonomic study, strain A29T should be placed in the genus Haloterrigena as a novel species, for which the name Haloterrigena jeotgali sp. nov. is proposed. The type strain of the new species is A29T (=KCTC 4020T=DSM 18794T=JCM 14585T=CECT 7218T).