Halomonas indalinina sp nov., a moderately halophilic bacterium isolated from a solar saltern in Cabo de Gata, Almeria, southern Spain

A moderately halophilic bacterium, strain CG2.1(T), isolated from a solar saltern at Cabo de Gata, a wildlife reserve located in the province of Almeria, southern Spain, was subjected to a polyphasic taxonomic study. This organism was an aerobic, motile, Gram-negative rod that produced orange-pigmented colonies, Strain CG2.1(T) was able to grow at salinities of 3-25% (w/v) and at temperatures of 15-40 degrees C. The pH range for growth was 5-9. Strain CG2.1(T) was a heterotroph capable of utilizing various carbohydrates as carbon sources. The organism reduced nitrate and showed phenylalanine deaminase activity. The major fatty acids were C-18:1 omega 7c, C-16:0 and C-19:0 cyclo omega 8c. The DNA G + C content was 60.9 mol%. On the basis of the phenotypic and phylogenetic data, strain CG2.1(T) appeared to be a member of the genus Halomonas and clustered closely with Halomonas marisflavi (97.1% 16S rRNA gene sequence similarity). However, the level of DNA-DNA relatedness between the novel isolate and the most closely related Halomonas species was low. On the basis of these data, strain CG2.1(T) represents a novel member of the genus Halomonas, for which the name Halomonas indalinina is proposed. The type strain is CG2.1(T) (= CECT 5902(T) = LMG 23625(T)).