Aidingimonas halophila gen. nov., sp nov., a moderately halophilic bacterium isolated from a salt lake

Two Gram-negative, facultatively anaerobic, catalase-positive, oxidase-negative, non-motile, rod-shaped and moderately halophilic bacterial strains, designated YIM 90637(T) and BH 017, were isolated from a salt lake in Xinjiang province, north-west China, and subjected to a polyphasic taxonomic study. Phylogenetic analysis based on 16S rRNA gene sequences revealed that the two novel isolates were affiliated with the family Halomonadaceae; the two strains shared 100% sequence similarity, but showed similarities of 94.7% with the type strain of Modicisalibacter tunisiensis, 93.2-94.7% with members of the genus Chromohalobacter, 93.2-95.0% with members of the genus Halomonas and less than 92.0% with other members of the family Halomonadaceae. However, DNA-DNA relatedness data and phenotypic properties demonstrated that strains YIM 90637(T) and BH 017 were representatives of the same species. The major fatty acids were C-19:0 cyclo omega 8c and C-16:0. The relative amount of C-19:0 cyclo omega 8c was notably higher than that found in most species of the family Halomonadaceae for which fatty acid composition has been determined. The genomic: DNA G + C content was 57.2-57.5 mol% and the only respiratory quinone was ubiquinone 9. Based on evidence from the polyphasic taxonomic study, it was concluded that the two strains should be classified as representatives of a novel species in a new genus, for which name Aidingimonas halophila gen. nov., sp. nov. is proposed; the type strain of Aidingimonas halophila is YIM 90637(T) (=KCTC 12885(T) = CCTCC AB 207002(T)).