Saliterribacillus persicus gen. nov., sp. nov., a moderately halophilic bacterium isolated from a hypersaline lake

Abstract

A novel Gram-positive, moderately halophilic bacterium, designated strain X4BT, was isolated from soil around the hypersaline lake Aran-Bidgol in Iran and characterized taxonomically using a polyphasic approach. Cells of strain X4BT were motile rods and formed ellipsoidal endospores at a terminal or subterminal position in swollen sporangia. Strain X4BT was a strictly aerobic bacterium, catalase- and oxidase-positive. The strain was able to grow at NaCl concentrations of 0.5–22.5 % (w/v), with optimum growth occurring at 7.5 % (w/v) NaCl. The optimum temperature and pH for growth were 35 °C and pH 7.0. Analysis of 16S rRNA gene sequence revealed that strain X4BT is a member of the family Bacillaceae , constituting a novel phyletic lineage within this family. Highest sequence similarities were obtained with the 16S rRNA gene sequences of the type strains of Sediminibacillus albus (96.0 %), Paraliobacillus ryukyuensis (95.9 %), Paraliobacillus quinghaiensis (95.8 %) and Sediminibacillus halophilus (95.7 %), respectively. The DNA G+C content of this novel isolate was 35.2 mol%. The major cellular fatty acids of strain X4BT were anteiso-C15 : 0 and anteiso-C17 : 0 and its polar lipid pattern consisted of diphosphatidylglycerol, phosphatidylglycerol, two aminolipids, an aminophospholipid and an unknown phospholipid. The isoprenoid quinones were MK-7 (89 %) and MK-6 (11 %). The peptidoglycan contained meso-diaminopimelic acid as the diagnostic diamino acid. On the basis of 16S rRNA gene sequence analysis in combination with chemotaxonomic and phenotypic data, strain X4BT represents a novel species in a new genus in the family Bacillaceae , order Bacillales for which the name Saliterribacillus persicus gen. nov., sp. nov. is proposed. The type strain of the type species (Saliterribacillus persicus) is X4BT ( = IBRC-M 10629T = KCTC 13827T).