Oceanobacillus halophilum sp. nov. isolated from a mangrove forest soil.

A halophilic, aerobic bacterium, designated GD01(T), was isolated from a mangrove forest soil near the South China Sea. Cells of strain GD01(T) were Gram staining positive, oxidase positive, and catalase positive. The strain was rod shaped and motile by means of peritrichous flagella and produced ellipsoidal endospores. The strain was able to grow with NaCl at concentrations of 0.5-12 % (optimum 3-5 %, w/v), at temperatures of 20-50 °C (optimum 30 °C), and at pH 6.0-8.5 (optimum pH 7.0). Phylogenetic analysis based on 16S rRNA gene sequences showed that strain GD01(T) formed a cluster with O. profundus DSM 18246(T) (96.4 % 16S rRNA gene sequence similarity), O. caeni KCTC 13061(T) (95.4 %), and O. oncorhynchi JCM 12661(T) (94.5 %). The G+C content of strain GD01(T) was 38.7 mol%. The major respiratory quinone was MK-7. The major cellular fatty acids (>5 %) were anteiso-C15:0, iso-C16:0 (13.7 %), anteiso-C17:0 (12.6 %), iso-C15:0 (9.9 %), iso-C14:0 (9.5 %), and C16:0 (5.0 %). The polar lipids consisted of diphosphatidylglycerol, phosphatidylglycerol, glycolipid, four unknown lipids, and four unknown phospholipids. Based on phenotypic characteristics, chemotaxonomic features, and phylogenetic analysis based on 16S rRNA gene sequences, the strain was identified to represent a distinct novel species in the genus Oceanobacillus, and the name proposed is Oceanobacillus halophilum sp. nov. with type train GD01(T) (=CCTCC AB 2012863(T) = KCTC 33101(T)).