Phytohalomonas tamaricis gen. nov., sp. nov., an endophytic bacterium isolated from Tamarix ramosissima roots growing in Kumtag desert

A gram-stain-negative, aerobic, non-spore-forming, rod-shaped, non-motile bacterium strain R4HLG17 T was isolated from Tamarix ramosissima roots growing in Kumtag desert. The strain grew at salinities of 0–16% (w/v) NaCl (optimum 5–6%), pH 5–9 (optimum 7) and at 16–45 °C. Based on 16S rRNA gene sequence similarity, strain R4HLG17 T belonged to the family Halomonadaceae and was most closely related to Halomonas lutea DSM 23508 T (95.1%), followed by Halotalea alkalilenta AW-7 T (94.8%), Salinicola acroporae S4-41 T (94.8%), Salinicola halophilus CG4.1 T (94.6%), and Larsenimonas salina M1-18 T (94.4%). Multilocus sequence analysis (MLSA) based on the partial sequences of 16S rRNA, atp A, gyrB, rpo D, and sec A genes indicated that the strain R4HLG17 T formed an independent and monophyletic branch related to other genera of Halomonadaceae , supporting its placement as a new genus in this family. The draft genome of strain R4HLG17 T was 3.6 Mb with a total G + C content of 55.1%. The average nucleotide identity to Halomonas lutea DSM 23508 T was 83.5%. Q-9 was detected as the major respiratory quinone and summed feature 8 (C 18:1 ω 7 c /C 18:1 ω 6 c ), summed feature 3 (C 16:1 ω 7 c /C 16:1 ω 6 c ), and C 16:0 as predominant cellular fatty acids. On the basis of chemotaxonomic, phylogenetic, and phenotypic evidence, strain R4HLG17 T is concluded to represent a novel species of a new genus within Halomonadaceae , for which the name Phytohalomonas tamaricis gen. nov., sp. nov., is proposed. The type strain is R4HLG17 T (=ACCC 19929 T =KCTC 52415 T ).