Halomonas qijiaojingensis sp. nov. and Halomonas flava sp. nov., two moderately halophilic bacteria isolated from a salt lake.

Two moderately halophilic, Gram-negative, rod-shaped bacteria, designated YIM 93003(T) and YIM 94343(T), were isolated from a salt lake in Xinjiang province, north-west China. The two strains YIM 93003(T) and YIM 94343(T) grew at 20-40°C, pH 6-9, 0.5-24% (w/v) NaCl and at 20-40°C, pH 6-9, 0.5-23% (w/v) NaCl, respectively. No growth occurred in absence of NaCl. Phylogenetic analyses based on 16S rRNA gene sequences showed that strains YIM 93003(T) and YIM 94343(T) were phylogenetically affiliated to the genus Halomonas and exhibited sequence similarity of 97.5% and 97.4% to the type strain Halomonas anticariensis DSM 16096(T), respectively. The strains possessed chemotaxonomic markers that were consistent with their classification in the genus Halomonas (Q-9 as predominant respiratory quinine; C18:1ω7c, C16:0 and C16:1 ω7c/iso-C15:02-OH as the major fatty acids). The DNA-DNA hybridization values for strains YIM 93003(T) and YIM 94343(T), YIM 93003(T) and DSM 16096(T), YIM 94343(T) and DSM 16096(T) were 38.1 ± 3.0, 18.3 ± 4.7, and 20.8 ± 4.6%, respectively. The G+C contents of the strains YIM 93003(T) and YIM 94343(T) were 63.4 and 64.0 mol%, respectively. Based on comparative analysis of physiological, biochemical and chemotaxonomic data, including low DNA-DNA hybridization results, two novel species, Halomonas qijiaojingensis sp. nov., and Halomonas flava sp. nov., are proposed. The type strains are YIM 93003(T) (=CCTCC AB 208133(T) =KCTC 22228(T)) and YIM 94343(T) (=CCTCC AB 2010382(T) =KCTC 23356(T)), respectively.