Pontibacillus yanchengensis sp. nov., a moderately halophilic bacterium isolated from salt field soil
A Gram-positive-staining, aerobic, moderately halophilic bacterium, designated strain Y32T, was isolated from subsurface soil of the Sanwei salt field, Yancheng, Jiangsu province, South-east China. The cell-wall peptidoglycan type of strain Y32T was meso-diaminopimelic acid. The menaquinone was menaquinone-7 (MK-7). The major fatty acids were anteiso-C15 : 0 and iso-C15 : 0 and the DNA G+C content of strain Y32T was 40.3 mol%. Phylogenetic analysis based on 16S rRNA gene sequences showed that strain Y32T was closely related to the type strains of the genus Pontibacillus. The 16S rRNA gene sequence similarities of strain Y32T with the type strains of species of the genus Pontibacillus were 97.8 % (Pontibacillus marinus KCTC 3917T), 96.9 % (Pontibacillus chungwhensis BH030062T), 96.8 % (Pontibacillus litoralis JSM 072002T) and 96.0 % (Pontibacillus halophilus JSM 076056T). DNA–DNA relatedness between strain Y32T and P. marinus KCTC 3917T was 42 %. On the basis of phenotypic, chemotaxonomic and phylogenetic evidences, strain Y32T was found to be affiliated to the genus Pontibacillus, but was clearly differentiated from other members of this genus. Strain Y32T represents a novel member of the genus, for which the name Pontibacillus yanchengensis sp. nov. is proposed. The type strain is Y32T ( = CGMCC 1.10680T = CCTCC AB209311T = NRRL B-59408T).