Aidingimonas halophila gen. nov., sp. nov., a moderately halophilic bacterium isolated from a salt lake

Two Gram-negative, facultatively anaerobic, catalase-positive, oxidase-negative, non-motile, rod-shaped and moderately halophilic bacterial strains, designated YIM 90637(T) and BH 017, were isolated from a salt lake in Xinjiang province, north-west China, and subjected to a polyphasic taxonomic study. Phylogenetic analysis based on 16S rRNA gene sequences revealed that the two novel isolates were affiliated with the family Halomonadaceae; the two strains shared 100 % sequence similarity, but showed similarities of 94.7 % with the type strain of Modicisalibacter tunisiensis, 93.2-94.7 % with members of the genus Chromohalobacter, 93.2-95.0 % with members of the genus Halomonas and less than 92.0 % with other members of the family Halomonadaceae. However, DNA-DNA relatedness data and phenotypic properties demonstrated that strains YIM 90637(T) and BH 017 were representatives of the same species. The major fatty acids were C(19 : 0) cyclo omega8c and C(16 : 0.) The relative amount of C(19 : 0) cyclo omega8c was notably higher than that found in most species of the family Halomonadaceae for which fatty acid composition has been determined. The genomic DNA G+C content was 57.2-57.5 mol% and the only respiratory quinone was ubiquinone 9. Based on evidence from the polyphasic taxonomic study, it was concluded that the two strains should be classified as representatives of a novel species in a new genus, for which name Aidingimonas halophila gen. nov., sp. nov. is proposed; the type strain of Aidingimonas halophila is YIM 90637(T) (=KCTC 12885(T)=CCTCC AB 207002(T)).