Haloferula luteola sp nov., an endophytic bacterium isolated from the root of a halophyte, Rosa rugosa, and emended description of the genus Haloferula

A Gram-negative, non-spore-forming, endophytic bacterium, strain YC6886(T), was isolated from the root of a halophyte, Rosa rugosa, which inhabits coastal areas of Namhae Island off the southern coast of Korea. Cells were non-motile, obligately aerobic rods and formed pale-yellow colonies. The isolate grew at 4-32 degrees C (optimum 25-28 degrees C) and at pH 6.5-9.5 (optimum pH 7.5) and grew optimally with 2-3% (w/v) NaCl, but NaCl was not an absolute requirement for growth. Strain YC6886(T) produced yellow carotenoid pigments. Strain YC6886(T) exhibited the highest 16S rRNA gene sequence similarity with Haloferula sargassicola MN1-1037(T) (97.4%). Sequence similarities between strain YC6886(T) and other members of the genus Haloferula were 93.9-94.7%. DNA DNA relatedness between strain YC6886(T) and H. sargassicola KCTC 22202(T) and Haloferula rosea KCTC 22201(T) was 27 and 15%, respectively. The major fatty acids were iso-C-14:0, C-16:0 and C-16:1 omega 9C and minor components were C-14:0, C-18:0 and anteiso-C-15:0. The major respiratory quinone was menaquinone 9 and the DNA G+C content was 58.5 mol%. The polar lipid profile was composed of diphosphatidylglycerol, phosphatidylethanolamine, phosphatidylglycerol, an unknown phospholipid and an unknown phosphoglycolipid. On the basis of phenotypic, chemotaxonomic, DNA DNA hybridization and phylogenetic analysis, strain YC6886(T) represents a novel species in the genus Haloferula, for which the name Haloferula luteola sp. nov. is proposed. The type strain is YC6886(T) (=KCTC 22447(T) =DSM 21608(T)). An emended description of the genus Haloferula is also presented.