Halomonas zhanjiangensis sp. nov., a halophilic bacterium isolated from a sea urchin

Abstract

A novel Gram-negative, slightly halophilic, catalase-positive, oxidase-negative, obligately aerobic, non-sporulating rod-shaped bacterium, designated strain JSM 078169(T), was isolated from a sea urchin (Hemicentrotus pulcherrimus) collected from the South China Sea. Growth occurred with 1-20 % (w/v) total salts (optimum, 3-5 %), at pH 6.0-10.5 (optimum, pH 7.5) and at 4-40 degrees C (optimum, 25-30 degrees C). The major cellular fatty acids were C(18 : 1)omega7c, C(16 : 0) and C(12 : 0) 3-OH. The predominant respiratory quinone was Q-9 and the genomic DNA G+C content was 55.8 mol%. Phylogenetic analysis based on 16S rRNA gene sequences indicated that strain JSM 078169(T) should be assigned to the genus Halomonas. The sequence similarities between the isolate and the type strains of members of the genus Halomonas were in the range 92.4-97.0 %. The combination of phylogenetic analysis, DNA-DNA relatedness, phenotypic characteristics and chemotaxonomic data supported the view that strain JSM 078169(T) represents a novel species of the genus Halomonas, for which the name Halomonas zhanjiangensis sp. nov. is proposed, with JSM 078169(T) (=CCTCC AB 208031(T)=DSM 21076(T)=KCTC 22279(T)) as the type strain.