Abstract
JL Cayol, S Ducerf, BKC Patel, JL Garcia, P Thomas and B Ollivier
IRD, Laboratoire de Microbiologie, Universite de Provence, ESIL case 925, 163 Avenue de Luminy, 13288 Marseille Cedex 9, France
A new thermophilic, strictly halophilic, anaerobic, non-sporulating rod-shaped bacterium, measuring 0.5 x 3.0--8.0 microm and designated strain CTT3(T), was isolated from a solar saltern. Strain CTT3(T) stained Gram-negative, was motile by means of laterally inserted flagella, had a genome G+C content of 33 mol% and grew optimally at 65 degrees C and pH 7.0 with 5% NaCl. The strain also grew readily at 70 degrees C in the presence of 15% NaCl. Strain CTT3(T) fermented cellobiose, fructose, glucose, maltose, mannitol, mannose, sucrose, glycerol, N-acetylglucosamine, starch, pyruvate and bio-Trypticase. It produced acetate, ethanol, H(2) and presumably CO(2) from glucose. 16S rRNA gene sequence analysis indicated that it is a member of cluster XII of the Clostridiales and related genera of the subphylum of the Gram-positive bacteria containing genomes of low G+C content. Its phenotypic and phylogenetic characteristics clearly differentiated it from all other members of this cluster. Based on the findings it is proposed that strain CTT3(T) be designated as a new species of a new genus, Thermohalobacter berrensis gen. nov., sp. nov. The type strain is CTT3(T) (=CNCM 105955(T)).