Salifodinibacter halophilus gen. nov., sp. nov., a halophilic gammaproteobacterium in the family Salinisphaeraceae isolated from a salt mine in the Colombian Andes

Two morphologically similar halophilic strains, named USBA 874 and USBA 960(T), were isolated from water and sediment samples collected from the Zipaquira salt mine in the Colombian Andes. Both isolates had non-spore-forming, Gram-stain-negative and motile cells that grew aerobically. The strains grew optimally at 30 degrees C, pH 7.0 and with 25% NaCl (w/v). The isolates showed almost identical 16S rRNA gene sequences (99.0% similarity). The predominant quinones of USBA-960(T) were Q-8, Q-7 and Q-9. The major cellular fatty acids were C-19:0 cyclo omega 8c, C-18:0 and C-16:0. According to 16S rRNA gene sequencing, the closest phylogenetic relatives are Salinisphaera species (similarity between 93.6 and 92.3 %), Abyssibacter profundi OUC007(T) (88.6%) and Oceanococcus atlanticus 22 parallel to-S10r2(T) (88.7 %). In addition, the result of genome BLAST distance phylogeny analysis between strains USBA 874 and USBA 960T, Salinisphaera halophila (YIM 95161(T)), Salinisphaera shabanensis (E1L3A(T)), Salinisphaera orenii (MK-B5(T)) and Salinisphaera japonica (YTM-1(T)) was 18.5%. Other in silico species delineation analyses also showed low identity such as ANIb and ANIm values (<69.0 and <84.0% respectively), TETRA (<0.81) and AAI values (<0.67). Genome sequencing of USBA 960(T) revealed a genome size of 2.47 Mbp and a G+C content of 59.71 mol%. Phylogenetic analysis of strains USBA 874 and USBA 960(T) indicated that they formed a different lineage within the family Salinisphaeraceae. Based on phenotypic and chemotaxonomic characteristics, phylogenetic analysis and DNA-DNA relatedness values, along with identity at whole genome level, it can be concluded that strains USBA 960(T) and USBA 874 represent a novel genus of the family Salinisphaeraceae and the name Salifodinibacter halophilus gen. nov., sp. nov. is proposed. The type strain is USBA 960T (CMPUJ U095(T)=CECT 30006(T)).