Abstract
Two strains that were originally isolated and characterized as members of the moderately halophilic species Halomonas elongata, strains DSM 3043 (=1H11) and ATCC 33174 (=1H15), were studied in detail. Their complete 16S rRNA sequences were determined and, when compared to sequences available from the databases, they showed a close phylogenetic relationship to Chromohalobacter marismortui. In addition, DNA--DNA hybridization experiments showed that both strains are members of the same species, but their DNA relatedness to the type strains of Halomonas elongata, ATCC 33173(T), and Chromohalobacter marismortui, ATCC 17056(T), is very low. Phenotypically, the two strains showed very similar features, related to those of Chromohalobacter, but clear differences were found between these two strains and Chromohalobacter marismortui. On the basis of these data, it is proposed that Halomonas elongata DSM 3043 and ATCC 33174 should be included in a new species of the genus Chromohalobacter, Chromohalobacter salexigens sp. nov. The type strain is DSM 3043(T) (=ATCC BAA-138(T)=CECT 5384(T)=CCM4921(T)=CIP106854(T)=NCIMB13768(T)).