Halomonas xiaochaidanensis sp. nov., isolated from a salt lake sediment

A short-rod-shaped moderately halophilic bacterium, designated CUG 00002(T), was isolated from the sediment of Xiaochaidan salt lake in Qinghai Province, China by using R2A medium. The cells were Gram-staining negative, aerobic, forming creamy and circular colonies with diameters of 2-3 mm on R2A agar when incubated at 30 °C for 3 days. 16S rRNA gene-based phylogenetic analysis indicated that strain CUG 00002(T) belonged to the genus Halomonas in the class Gammaproteobacteria, showing highest sequence similarity of 97.1 and 96.7 % to Halomonas mongoliensis Z-7009(T) (=DSM 17332=VKM B2353) and Halomonas shengliensis SL014B-85(T) (=CGMCC 1.6444(T)=LMG 23897(T)), respectively. The predominant isoprenoid quinone was ubiquinone-9 (Q9), and the major fatty acids were C16:0, summed feature 3 (comprising C16:1 ω7c and/or C16:1 ω6c) and summed feature 8 (comprising C18:1 ω7c or C18:1 ω6c). The genomic DNA G+C content of strain CUG 00002(T) was 61.8 mol%. The above characteristics were consistent with the placement of the organism in the genus Halomonas. The level of DNA-DNA relatedness between CUG 00002(T) and its most closely related strain H. mongoliensis Z-7009(T) was 41.0 ± 1.6 %. Based on the results of phenotypic, phylogenetic and biochemical analyses, strain CUG 00002(T) represents a novel species of the genus Halomonas, for which the name Halomonas xiaochaidanensis sp. nov. is proposed. The type strain is CUG 00002(T) (=CCTCC AB 2014152(T)=KCTC 42685(T)).