Salinicola rhizosphaerae sp. nov., isolated from the rhizosphere of the mangrove Avicennia marina L.

A Gram-stain-negative, motile, rod-shaped bacterium, designated MSSRFH1 T , was isolated from the rhizosphere of the mangrove, Avicennia marina , in Pichavaram, Tamil Nadu, India. Phylogenetic analysis, based on the 16S rRNA gene sequence of MSSRFH1 T , indicated that it clustered in the genus Salinicola and was most closely related to Salinicola peritrichatus JCM18795 T (96.7 % similarity). The 16S rRNA gene sequence similarity was < 96.5 % with other strains of species of the genus Salinicola . The distinctiveness of strain MSSRFH1 T was also shown by low similarities of its rpoD ( < 87 % similarity) and gyrB ( < 85 %) gene sequences with those of other members of the genus Salinicola . Strain MSSRFH1 T could tolerate NaCl concentrations of up to 30 % (w/v). The main fatty acids of MSSRFH1 T included C 18 : 1 ω7 c , C 16 : 0 and C 19 : 0 ω8 c . The polar lipids present included diphosphatidylglycerol, phosphatidylethanolamine, phosphatidylglycerol, an unidentified amino lipid and unidentified phospholipids. Comparison of BOX-PCR fingerprints indicated that MSSRFH1 T showed a unique DNA profile and its genomic G+C content was 64 mol%. On the basis of the data presented, strain MSSRFH1 T represents a novel species of the genus Salinicola, for which the name Salinicola rhizosphaerae sp. nov. is proposed. The type strain is MSSRFH1 T ( = KCTC 32998 T  = NBRC 110222 T ).