Halorussus salinus sp. nov., isolated from a marine solar saltern

A halophilic archaeal strain YJ-37-H^T was isolated from Yangjiang marine solar saltern, China. Cells were pleomorphic rods, stained Gram negative and formed red-pigmented colonies on agar plate. Strain YJ-37-H^T was able to grow at 20-50 °C (optimum 37 °C), at 0.9-4.8 M NaCl (optimum 2.6 M NaCl), at 0-1.0 M MgCl₂ (optimum 0.3 MgCl₂) and at pH 6.5-9.0 (optimum pH 7.0). The cells lysed in distilled water, and the minimal NaCl concentration to prevent cell lysis was found to be 5 % (w/v). The 16S rRNA gene and rpoB' gene of strain YJ-37-H^T were phylogenetically related to the corresponding genes of Halorussus members (93.2-95.8 % and 90.1-93.9 % similarities, respectively). The major polar lipids of the strain were phosphatidic acid (PA), phosphatidylglycerol (PG), phosphatidylglycerol phosphate methyl ester (PGP-Me), phosphatidylglycerol sulfate (PGS) and five glycolipids, sulfated galactosyl mannosyl glucosyl diether (S-TGD-1), galactosyl mannosyl glucosyl diether (TGD-1), sulfated mannosyl glucosyl diether (S-DGD-1), mannosyl glucosyl diether (DGD-1) and diglycosyl diether (DGD-2). The DNA G+C content of strain YJ-37-H^T was 64.9 mol%. The phenotypic, chemotaxonomic and phylogenetic properties suggested that strain YJ-37-H^T (=CGMCC 1.12571^T = JCM 30032^T) represents a new species of Halorussus, for which the name Halorussus salinus sp. nov. is proposed.