Planococcus halotolerans sp. nov., isolated from a saline soil sample in China.

A novel Gram-stain-positive, coccoid or short rod-shaped, moderate-orange-pigmented, halotolerant and psychrotolerant bacterium, designated strain SCU63T, was isolated from a saline soil sample in China, and characterized by a polyphasic taxonomic approach. 16S rRNA gene sequence similarity of strain SCU63T to species in the genera Planococcus and Planomicrobium ranged from 96.5 to 98.6 %. Phylogenetic trees as well as diagnostic signature nucleotides in the 16S rRNA gene sequence supported the view that this strain should be assigned to the genus Planococcus. Further, average nucleotide identity and digital DNA-DNA hybridization analyses confirmed the separate species status of strain SCU63T relative to the closely related taxa. The isolate grew at 0-40 °C (optimum, 30-35 °C), at pH 6.5-9.0 (pH 7.0-7.5) and in the presence of 0-15 % (w/v) NaCl (3 %). The principal fatty acids were anteiso-C15 : 0, C16 : 1ω7c alcohol, iso-C16 : 0 and iso-C14 : 0, and the dominant isoprenoid quinones were MK-8 and MK-7. The peptidoglycan type was determined to be A4α (l-Lys-d-Glu), and the polar lipids contained diphosphatidylglycerol, phosphatidylglycerol, phosphatidylethanolamine, one unidentified aminophospholipid and one unidentified lipid. The DNA G+C content was 44.6 mol%. Based on the genotypic, phenotypic and chemotaxonomic data, strain SCU63T can be classified as a novel species in the genus Planococcus, for which the name Planococcushalotolerans sp. nov. is proposed. The type strain is SCU63T (=CGMCC 1.13628T=KCTC 43001T).