Halomonas heilongjiangensis sp. nov., a novel moderately halophilic bacterium isolated from saline and alkaline soil.

A moderately halophilic bacterium, designated strain 9-2(T), was isolated from saline and alkaline soil collected in Lindian county, Heilongjiang province, China. The strain was observed to be strictly aerobic, Gram-negative, rod-shaped, oxidase-positive, catalase-positive and motile. It was found to require NaCl for growth and to grow at NaCl concentrations of 0.5-14 % (w/v) (optimum, 7-10 %, w/v), at temperatures of 10-45 °C (optimum 25-30 °C) and at pH 5.0-10.0 (optimum pH 8.0). Phylogenetic analysis based on 16S rRNA gene sequences revealed that strain 9-2(T) is a member of the genus Halomonas and is closely related to Halomonas desiderata DSM 9502(T) (96.68 %), Halomonas campaniensis DSM 1293(T) (96.46 %), Halomonas ventosae DSM 15911(T) (96.27 %) and Halomonas kenyensis DSM 17331(T) (96.27 %). The DNA-DNA hybridization value was 38.9 ± 0.66 % between the novel isolate 9-2(T) and H. desiderata DSM 9502(T). The predominant ubiquinones were identified as Q9 (75.1 %) and Q8 (24.9 %). The major fatty acids were identified as C16:0 (22.0 %), Summed feature 8 (C18:1 ω6c/C18:1 ω7c, 19.6 %), Summed feature 3 (C16:1 ω6c/C16:1 ω7c, 12.6 %), C12:0 3-OH (12.0 %) and C10:0 (11.7 %). The DNA G+C content was determined to be 69.7 mol%. On the basis of the evidence presented in this study, strain 9-2(T) is considered to represent a novel species of the genus Halomonas, for which the name Halomonas heilongjiangensis sp. nov. is proposed. The type strain is 9-2(T) (=DSM 26881(T) = CGMCC 1.12467(T)).