Rufibacter immobilis sp. nov., isolated from a high-altitude saline lake

Abstract

Two pinkish-red, Gram-stain-negative, non-motile aerobic bacterial strains (MCC P1T and MCC P2), capable of growing at low temperatures (15 °C), were isolated from water of a saline lake located in the western Himalayas of India. The strains were capable of growth in the presence of 0–2.0 % NaCl and at pH 6.5–9.0. Phylogenetic analysis based on 16S rRNA gene sequences revealed the closest similarity of 96.3 % to the type strain of the only species of the genus Rufibacter , Rufibacter tibetensis CCTCC AB 208084T. Strains MCC P1T and MCC P2 shared 99.0 % 16S rRNA gene sequence similarity and 88.6 % DNA–DNA relatedness. The major cellular fatty acids were iso-C15 : 0, C17 : 1ω6c, summed feature 3 (C16 : 1ω6c/C16 : 1ω7c) and summed feature 4 (anteiso-C17 : 1 B/iso-C17 : 1 I). Predominant polar lipids were phosphatidylethanolamine, phosphatidylglycerol and diphosphatidylglycerol. The respiratory quinone was MK-7. The DNA G+C content of the strains was 52.6–52.8 mol%. Based on morphological, physiological, chemotaxonomical and molecular characteristics, strains MCC P1T and MCC P2 represent a novel species of the genus Rufibacter , for which the name Rufibacter immobilis sp. nov. is proposed. The type strain is MCC P1T ( = MCC 2268T = CCTCC AB 2013351T).