Rhizobium desertarenaesp. nov., isolated from the Saline Desert Soil from the Rann of Kachchh, India

Abstract

<jats:title>Abstract</jats:title><jats:p>A novel bacterial strain designated ADMK78<jats:sup>T</jats:sup> was isolated from the saline desert soil. The cells were rod-shaped, Gram-negative, and non-motile. The strain ADMK78<jats:sup>T</jats:sup> grows best at 28°C and pH 7.0 and can tolerate up to 2% (w/v) NaCl. Based on 16S rRNA gene phylogeny, the strain ADMK78<jats:sup>T</jats:sup> belongs to the genus <jats:italic>Rhizobium</jats:italic>, with the highest similarity to <jats:italic>Rhizobium wuzhouense</jats:italic> W44<jats:sup>T</jats:sup> (98.7%) and <jats:italic>Rhizobium ipomoeae</jats:italic> shin9-1<jats:sup>T</jats:sup> (97.9%). Core-genes based phylogenetic analysis revealed that the strain ADMK78<jats:sup>T</jats:sup> forms a distinct branch in between <jats:italic>Rhizobium ipomoeae</jats:italic> shin9-1<jats:sup>T</jats:sup> and <jats:italic>Rhizobium selenitireducens</jats:italic> BAA-1503<jats:sup>T</jats:sup>. The average nucleotide identity of ADMK78<jats:sup>T</jats:sup> was less than 82%, to members of the family <jats:italic>Rhizobiaceae</jats:italic>. The genomic DNA G+C content of strain ADMK78<jats:sup>T</jats:sup> is 58.6 mol%. The major fatty acids of strain ADMK78<jats:sup>T</jats:sup> were C<jats:sub>18:0</jats:sub> and C<jats:sub>18:1 ω7c</jats:sub>. The strain ADMK78<jats:sup>T</jats:sup> showed differences in physiological, phenotypic, and protein profiles estimated by MALDI-TOF MS to its closest relatives. Based on the phenotypic, chemotaxonomic properties, and phylogenetic analyses, the strain ADMK78<jats:sup>T</jats:sup> could be distinguished from the recognized species of the genus <jats:italic>Rhizobium</jats:italic>. It is suggested to represent a novel species of this genus, for which the name <jats:italic>Rhizobium desertarenae</jats:italic> sp. nov. is proposed. The type strain is ADMK78<jats:sup>T</jats:sup> (=MCC 3400<jats:sup>T</jats:sup>; KACC 21383<jats:sup>T</jats:sup>; JCM 33657<jats:sup>T</jats:sup>).</jats:p>