Halobium Salinum sp. nov., Isolated from a Marine Solar Saltern

A halophilic archaeal strain YJ-8-S^T was isolated from Yangjiang marine solar saltern, China. Cells from strain YJ-8-S^T were pleomorphic, lysed in distilled water, stained Gram-negative, and formed red-pigmented colonies on agar plate. Optimal growth of the strain was obtained at 3.1 M NaCl (range 1.4-4.8 M), 0.1 M MgCl₂ (range 0.005-1.0 M), 37 °C (range 20-50 °C), and pH 7.5 (range 5.5-9.5). The major polar lipids are phosphatidylglycerol (PG), phosphatidylglycerol phosphate methyl ester (PGP-Me), sulfated mannosyl glucosyl diether (S-DGD-1), and mannosyl glucosyl diether (DGD-1). The 16S rRNA gene and rpoB' gene of strain YJ-8-S^T were phylogenetically related to the corresponding genes of Halobium palmae (96.9-97.2 and 92.7% similarities, respectively). The DNA G+C content of strain YJ-8-S^T was determined to be 68.9 mol%. The phenotypic, chemotaxonomic, and phylogenetic characteristics suggested that strain YJ-8-S^T (=CGMCC 1.12553^T = JCM 30029^T) represents a new species of Halobium, for which the name Halobium salinum sp. nov. is proposed.