Salicola marasensis gen. nov., sp. nov., an extremely halophilic bacterium isolated from the Maras solar salterns in Peru

Abstract

Six strains of extremely halophilic bacteria were isolated from several crystallizer ponds of the Maras solar salterns in the Peruvian Andes. On the basis of 16S rRNA gene sequence similarity, G+C contents and DNA-DNA hybridization results, the six isolates constituted a genomically homogeneous group affiliated with the Gammaproteobacteria. The closest relatives were members of the halophilic genera Halovibrio and Halospina, which showed 16S rRNA gene sequence similarities below 97 % and whole-genome hybridization levels below 33 % for the type strain, 7Sm5 T. From the genomic and phenotypic properties of the six novel isolates and phylogenetic reconstruction based on 16S rRNA gene sequence analysis, they can be considered to represent a novel genus within the Gammaproteobacteria. On the basis of the taxonomic study, a novel genus, Salicola gen. nov., is proposed containing the single species Salicola marasensis sp. nov., which is the type species. The type strain of Salicola marasensis is 7Sm5 T (=CECT 7107 T =CIP 108835 T). The GenBank/EMBL/DDBJ accession numbers for the 16S rRNA gene sequences of strains 7Sm5 T , 2Sb7, 7Sa10, 7Sm7, 7Mb1 and 5Ma3 are DQ019934, DQ019935 and DQ087259-DQ087262, respectively. Details of the reference sequences used in the construction of Fig. 1 are available as supplementary material in IJSEM Online.

Characterization of Salicola sp.  IC10, a lipase- and protease-producing extreme halophile

“…among the microbial population was also detected in the study of Pasic et al (2005) describing the microbial population of an Adriatic saltern with a continuous short‐cycling salt production mechanism. The presence of many Halobacterium ‐related phylotypes has also been described in a saltern located in the Peruvian Andes (Maturrano et al , 2006).…”

Phenotypic characterization and 16S rDNA identification of culturable non-obligate halophilic bacterial communities from a hypersaline lake, La Sal del Rey, in extreme South Texas (USA)

“…Members of the Proteobacteria are all gram-negative organisms and one subdivision in the phylum, the Gammaproteobacteria, are all rod-shaped organisms. Other studies of halophiles isolated from various habitats routinely describe gram-negative bacteria, including members of the Proteobacteria [7-9,14,32]. However, Proteobacteria are not usually the dominant phylum in hypersaline environments.…”

Microbial Diversity in Maras Salterns, a Hypersaline Environment in the Peruvian Andes

“…Bacteria related to "P. halophila" have been cultured from solar salterns (7), and they seem to grow in coculture with the recently isolated square archaeon (8). Interestingly, both S. ruber and the extremely halophilic bacterium related to "P. halophila" (now validly described as Salicola marasensis [24]), the most abundant bacteria in their hypersaline environments, have been cultured very easily from environmental samples. This contrasts with the difficulty of culturing the most abundant archaeon in the same environments.…”