Georgenia deserti sp. nov., a halotolerant actinobacterium isolated from a desert sample

Strain SYSU D8004^T was isolated from a sample collected from an arid area in Saudi Arabia. The isolate was Gram-stain-positive, non-motile, aerobic and non-spore-forming. It could grow at 4-45 °C, at pH 6.0-10.0 and in the presence of up to 17 % (w/v) NaCl. Pairwise comparison of the 16S rRNA gene sequences indicated that strain SYSU D8004^T shared highest sequence similarity with Georgenia halophila YIM 93316^T (96.5 %). Menaquinone MK-8(H4) was detected as the respiratory quinone. The polar lipid profile of strain SYSU D8004^T consisted of diphosphatidylglycerol, phosphatidylglycerol, phosphatidylinositol, two phosphatidylinositol mannosides, two unidentified phospholipids and an unidentified glycolipid. Strain SYSU D8004^T contained anteiso-C15 : 0, iso-C15 : 0 and C14 : 0 as the predominant fatty acids (>10 %). Galactose, glucose and rhamnose were detected as whole-cell sugars. Based on analyses of the phenotypic, genotypic and phylogenetic characteristics, it was determined that strain SYSU D8004^T could be differentiated from other closely related members of the genus Georgenia. Strain SYSU D8004^T is therefore considered to represent a novel species of the genus Georgenia, for which the name Georgenia deserti sp. nov. is proposed. The type strain is SYSU D8004^T (=CGMCC 1.15793^T=KCTC 39987^T).