Marinobacter azerbaijanicus sp. nov., a moderately halophilic bacterium from Urmia Lake, Iran

A novel moderately halophilic, Gram- stain- negative and facultatively anaerobic bacterium, designated as strain TBZ242 T , was isolated from water of Urmia Lake in the Azerbaijan region of Iran. The cells were found to be rod- shaped and motile by a single polar flagellum, producing circular and yellowish colonies. The strain could grow in the presence of 0.5-10 % (w/v) NaCl (optimum, 2.5-5 %). The temperature and pH ranges for growth were 15-45 degrees C (optimum 30 degrees C) and pH 7.0-11.0 (optimum pH 8.0) on marine agar. The 16S rRNA gene sequence analysis revealed that strain TBZ242 T belonged to the genus Marinobacter , showing the highest similarities to Marinobacter algicola DG893 T (98.8 %), Marinobacter vulgaris F01 T (98.8 %), Marinobacter salarius R9SW1 T (98.5 %), Marinobacter panjinensis PJ-16 T (98.4 %), Marinobacter orientalis W62 T (98.0 %) and Marinobacter denitrificans JB2H27 T (98.0 %). The 16S rRNA and core- genome phylogenetic trees showed that strain TBZ242 T formed a distinct branch, closely related to a subclade accommodating M. vulgaris , M. orientalis , M. panjinensis , M. denitrificans , M. algicola , M. salarius and M. iranensis , within the genus Marinobacter . Average nucleotide identity and digital DNA-DNA hybridization values between strain TBZ242 T and the type strains of the related species of Marinobacter were <= 85.0 and 28.6 %, respectively, confirming that strain TBZ242 T represents a distinct species. The major cellular fatty acids of strain TBZ242 T were C 16:0 and C 16:1 omega 7 c /C 16: 1 omega 6 c and the quinone was ubiquinone Q- 9. The genomic DNA G+C content of strain TBZ242 T is 57.2 mol%. Based on phenotypic, chemotaxonomic and genomic data, strain TBZ242 T represents a novel species within the genus Marinobacter , for which the name Marinobacter azerbaijanicus sp. nov. is proposed. The type strain is TBZ242 T (= CECT 30649 T = IBRC- M 11466 T ). Genomic fragment recruitment analysis showed that this species prefers aquatic saline environments with intermediate salinities, being detected on metagenomic databases of Lake Meyghan (Iran) with 5 and 18 % salinity, respectively.