[Nucleotide composition and homologies in the DNA of new extreme halophilic soil archaebacteria]

DNA nucleotide composition was studied in extreme halophilic bacteria belonging to the genera Halobacterium, Halococcus, Natronobacterium and Natronococcus. The cultures were shown to be a monolithic group of microorganisms with the content of GC pairs typical of extreme halophilic archebacteria. The difference between the content of DNA major and minor components was twice as high in Halobacterium distributus strains isolated from sulfate saline soils as compared to cultures of this species isolated from natural waters with a high salinity. DNA minor components were not found in haloalkalophilic microorganisms from soda saline soils in contrast to those from soda lakes. The results of DNA-DNA hybridization indicate that the Halobacterium genus is highly heterogeneous. The newly isolated strains of extremely halophilic H. distributus are characterized by the low homology of their DNAs both among themselves and with other species of the genus. However, the hybridization data for the collection strains H. vallismortis 1398 and H. halobium 996 from the National Collection of Microorganisms are indicative of a high homology (80-100%) which is not characteristic of cultures belonging to different species. These results as well as some phenotypical properties of H. vallismortis 1398 different from those of this species type strain support the data reported in the literature about the genetic instability of extreme halophilic archebacteria. The analysis of homologies in DNA nucleotide sequences may be used to study the taxonomy of extreme halophilic archebacteria.