Halostagnicola kamekurae sp. nov., an extremely halophilic archaeon from solar salt
A novel extremely halophilic archaeon, strain 194-10T, was isolated from a solar salt sample imported into Japan from the Philippines. Strain 194-10T was pleomorphic, neutrophilic and mesophilic and required at least 10 % (w/v) NaCl but no MgSO4 . 7H2O for growth; it exhibited optimal growth at 15 % (w/v) NaCl and 60 mM MgSO4 . 7H2O. Strain 194-10T grew at 20–45 °C (optimum, 30 °C) and pH 6.0–9.0 (optimum, pH 6.5–7.0). The G+C content of its DNA was 59.8 mol%. 16S rRNA gene sequence analysis revealed closest proximity to Halostagnicola larsenii XH-48T (98.5 % similarity), the sole representative of the genus Halostagnicola. Polar lipid analysis revealed that strain 194-10T contained phosphatidylglycerol and phosphatidylglycerol phosphate methyl ester (the latter derived from both C20C20 and C20C25 archaeol) and several unidentified glycolipids. The results of DNA–DNA hybridization (20.7 % relatedness between Hst. larsenii JCM 13463T and strain 194-10T) and physiological and biochemical characteristics allowed differentiation of strain 194-10T from Hst. larsenii XH-48T. Therefore, strain 194-10T represents a novel species of the genus Halostagnicola, for which the name Halostagnicola kamekurae sp. nov. is proposed, with the type strain 194-10T (=DSM 22427T =JCM 16110T =CECT 7536T).