Halomonas xiaochaidanensis sp. nov., isolated from a salt lake sediment

A short-rod-shaped moderately halophilic bacterium, designated CUG 00002T, was isolated from the sediment of Xiaochaidan salt lake in Qinghai Province, China by using R2A medium. The cells were Gram-staining negative, aerobic, forming creamy and circular colonies with diameters of 2–3 mm on R2A agar when incubated at 30 °C for 3 days. 16S rRNA gene-based phylogenetic analysis indicated that strain CUG 00002T belonged to the genus Halomonas in the class Gammaproteobacteria, showing highest sequence similarity of 97.1 and 96.7 % to Halomonas mongoliensis Z-7009T (=DSM 17332=VKM B2353) and Halomonas shengliensis SL014B-85T (=CGMCC 1.6444T=LMG 23897T), respectively. The predominant isoprenoid quinone was ubiquinone-9 (Q9), and the major fatty acids were C16:0, summed feature 3 (comprising C16:1ω7c and/or C16:1ω6c) and summed feature 8 (comprising C18:1ω7c or C18:1ω6c). The genomic DNA G+C content of strain CUG 00002T was 61.8 mol%. The above characteristics were consistent with the placement of the organism in the genus Halomonas. The level of DNA–DNA relatedness between CUG 00002T and its most closely related strain H. mongoliensis Z-7009T was 41.0 ± 1.6 %. Based on the results of phenotypic, phylogenetic and biochemical analyses, strain CUG 00002T represents a novel species of the genus Halomonas, for which the name Halomonas xiaochaidanensis sp. nov. is proposed. The type strain is CUG 00002T (=CCTCC AB 2014152T=KCTC 42685T).