Longimonas halophila gen. nov., sp. nov., isolated from a marine solar saltern

A bacterial strain, designated SYD6(T), was isolated from a marine solar saltern on the coast of Weihai, Shandong Province, PR China. Cells of strain SYD6(T) were rod-shaped, red, and approximately 5.0-9.0 μm in length and 0.4-0.6 μm in width. The strain was Gram-stain-negative, facultatively anaerobic, heterotrophic, catalase-positive and oxidase-negative. Growth occurred in 4-25% (w/v) NaCl [with 2-15% (w/v) MgCl2.6H2O also present], at 20-50 °C and pH 6.5-8.5. Optimal growth was observed at 37-42 °C, pH 7.5-8.0, with 6-8% (w/v) NaCl [with 2-4% (w/v) MgCl2.6H2O]. Nitrate was not reduced. Glucose, sucrose, maltose, fructose and ribose stimulated growth, but not glycerol, xylose or mannitol. The G+C content of the genomic DNA was 61.5 mol% (HPLC). The sole methyl naphthoquinone was MK-7 and the predominant cellular fatty acids (>10%) were iso-C15 : 0 2-OH/C16 : 1ω7c, iso-C16 : 0, C18 : 1ω7c/C18 : 1ω6c and C18 : 1ω7c. The predominant polar lipids were phosphatidylethanolamine, phosphatidylcholine, diphosphatidylglycerol and an unknown lipid. Phylogenetic analysis, based on 16S rRNA gene sequences, demonstrated that strain SYD6(T) was affiliated with the phylum Bacteroidetes. The most closely related neighbours were species of the genus Salisaeta and strain SYD6(T) had a 16S rRNA gene sequence similarity of 91.97% with Salisaeta longa DSM 21114(T). On the basis of these phenotypic and phylogenetic data, strain SYD6(T) represents a novel species of a new genus of the family Rhodothermaceae, for which the name Longimonas halophila gen. nov., sp. nov. is proposed. The type strain of the type species is SYD6(T) ( = CICC 10838(T) = KCTC 42399(T)).