Description of two new species ofHalomonas:Halomonas israelensissp.nov. andHalomonas canadensissp.nov.

Abstract

Six well-known strains of halotolerant bacteria, including two strains previously identified only as NRCC 41227 and Ba1, have been compared using 125 phenotypic characters and DNA-DNA hybridization. Although these strains represent some of the most heavily studied salt-tolerant bacteria, they have never been taxonomically compared. The data presented show that these bacteria form a relatively homogeneous group related at the genus level. The taxonomic comparison showed that these six organisms represented four distinct species all related above the 65% Jaccard coefficient level. In addition to two previously identified bacterial species, Halomonas elongata (ATCC 33173T) and Halomonas halodurans (ATCC 29686T), the strains included in this study represent two previously unnamed Halomonas species. These two new taxa have been assigned the names Halomonas israelensis (ATCC 43985T) and Halomonas canadensis (NRCC 41227T = ATCC 43984). DNA-DNA hybridization show that these two species are related to the type species H. elongata at 54.9 and 48.9%, respectively.

Transfer of Halomonas canadensis and Halomonas israelensis to the genus Chromohalobacter as Chromohalobacter canadensis comb. nov. and Chromohalobacter israelensis comb. nov..

“…Several tests allowed the differentiation of H. canadensis and H. israelensis from each other as well as from C. marismortui (Table 2) or species of the genus Halomonas. In the original proposal (Huval et al, 1995), H. canadensis and H. israelensis were classified within the genus Halomonas according to their phenotypic characteristics and DNA-DNA hybridization experiments, but only four Halomonas strains (representing three species) were used for comparison. However, the phylogenetic relationships of these two species were not determined.…”

“…The description of Chromohalobacter israelensis comb. nov. is the same as that published for H. israelensis (Huval et al, 1995) with a few additions : the cell size was determined to be 0n6-0n9i1n5-4n2 µm, hydrolysis of casein, DNA, aesculin, gelatin and starch is negative and the GjC content of the DNA is 65 mol % (T m method). The accession number of the 16S rDNA sequence is AJ295144.…”

“…During all this time, they were referred to simply as strains Ba " and NRCC 41227. It was not until 27 and 19 years, respectively, after the reports of their isolation that (Huval et al, 1995). The taxonomic study of Huval et al (1995) was done by comparing these two strains with four other Halomonas strains and taking 125 phenotypic features into account.…”

“…It was not until 27 and 19 years, respectively, after the reports of their isolation that (Huval et al, 1995). The taxonomic study of Huval et al (1995) was done by comparing these two strains with four other Halomonas strains and taking 125 phenotypic features into account. A further comparison, using a larger number of related reference strains, or a phylogenetic study has never been done, to our knowledge, and this led us to carry out a detailed study of these two Halomonas species.…”

Chromohalobacter sarecensis sp. nov., a psychrotolerant moderate halophile isolated from the saline Andean region of Bolivia

“…CAS medium was also previously utilized to characterize three of the species of the genus Chromohalobacter (Huval et al, 1995, Vreeland et al, 1980. Gram staining was performed using a Difco Gram stain set.…”