Hymenobacter crusticola sp. nov., isolated from biological soil crust

A Gram-stain-negative, aerobic, light-pink, short rod-shaped, non-spore-forming bacterial strain was isolated from biological soil crust sampled in the Hopq Desert, Inner Mongolia, China, designated MIMBbqt21(T). The G+C content of the genomic DNA was 55.1 mol%. Phylogenetic analysis of the 16S rRNA gene sequence showed that strain MIMBbqt21(T) belonged to the genus Hymenobacter and had the highest sequence similarity to Hymenobacter cavernae K1E01-27(T) (94.35 %). Cell growth could be observed at 4-29 degrees C (optimum, 24 degrees C), pH of 6.0-8.6 (optimum, 6.0) and in the presence of 1 % (w/v) NaCl (optimum, 0 %). The major fatty acids of strain MIMBbqt21(T) were iso-C-15(:0), C-16:1 omega 5c and summed feature 3 (C-16(:1)omega 7c/C-16:(1)omega 6c). The main polar lipids were phosphatidylethanolamine, five unidentified aminophospholipids, an unidentified glycolipid and four unidentified polar lipids. The sole respiratory quinone was menaquinone MK-7. Based on the results of the phylogenetic, chemotaxonomic and phenotypic studies, strain MIMBbqt21(T) could be distinguished from all known Hymenobacter species and represents a novel species, for which the name Hymenobacter crusticola sp. nov. is proposed. The type strain is MIMBbqt21(T) (=MCCC 1K01312(T)=KCTC 42804(T)).