Salibacter halophilus gen. nov., sp. nov., isolated from a saltern

A Gram-stain-negative and facultatively anaerobic bacterium, JZ3C34T, was isolated from a saltern in Feicheng, China (36° 8' 24.45″ E 116° 49' 22.46″ N). Cells of strain JZ3C34T were 0.3-0.4 µm wide and 1.5-2.0 µm long, catalase-positive and oxidase-negative. Colonies on modified marine agar 2216 were orange, circular, convex, translucent and approximately 1 mm in diameter after incubation for 96 h at 33 °C. Growth occurred at 20-50 °C (optimally at 33 °C), at pH 6.5-8.5 (optimally at 7.0-8.0) and in the presence of 2-18 % (w/v) NaCl (optimally in 6 % NaCl). Phylogenetic analysis of the 16S rRNA gene indicated that strain JZ3C34T was a member of the family Cryomorphaceae within the order Flavobacteriales and the most closely related species was Owenweeksia hongkongensis DSM 17368T (89.2 % 16S rRNA gene sequence similarity). The major respiratory quinone of strain JZ3C34T was menaquinone MK-7, and the dominant fatty acids were iso-C15 : 0 and iso-C15 : 1 G. The major polar lipids were two unidentified lipids and phosphatidylethanolamine, and the genomic DNA G+C content was 39.6 mol%. Polyphasic taxonomy clearly places the new strain as a novel species within a new genus of the family Cryomorphaceae, for which the name Salibacter halophilus gen. nov., sp. nov. The type strain of Salibacter halophilus is JZ3C34T (=KCTC 52047T=MCCC 1K02288T).