Halosarcina limi sp. nov., a halophilic archaeon from a marine solar saltern, and emended description of the genus Halosarcina

A halophilic archaeon, strain RO1-6(T), was isolated from a marine solar saltern in eastern China. Cells of strain RO1-6(T) were pleomorphic and motile and stained Gram-negative. Strain RO1-6(T) grew well on complex medium and colonies were red-pigmented. It was able to grow at 20-50 degrees C (optimum 37 degrees C), in 2.1-5.1 M NaCl (optimum 3.9 M NaCl), in 0.05-0.70 M MgCl2 (optimum 0.30 M MgCl2) and at pH 6.5-8.0 (optimum pH 7.0). Cells lysed in distilled water and the minimal NaCl concentration to prevent cell lysis was 12% (w/v). The major polar lipids of strain RO1-6(T) were phosphatidylglycerol, phosphatidylglycerol phosphate methyl ester and two glycolipids that were chromatographically identical to S-DGD-1 and S-2-DGD. The 16S rRNA gene sequence of strain RO1-6(T) showed similarities of 96.9 and 96.4% to those of the type strains of Halosarcina pallida and Halogeometricum borinquense, respectively, members of the most closely related recognized genera within the family Halobacteriaceae. The DNA G + C content of strain RO1-6(T) was 61.2 mol%. Phenotypic characterization and phylogenetic analysis revealed that strain RO1-6(T) is related to Halosarcina pallida and represents a novel species of the genus Halosarcina, for which the name Halosarcina limi sp. nov. is proposed; the type strain is RO1-6(T) (=CGMCC 1.8711(T) =JCM 16054(T)).