Halomonas jeotgali sp. nov., a new moderate halophilic bacterium isolated from a traditional fermented seafood

A moderate halophilic, Gram-negative, non-motile, rod-shape, and aerobe designated as strain HwaT was isolated from traditional fermented Korean seafood, which presented as a single cell or paired cells. Optimal growth occurred at 25°C in 10% (w/v) salts at pH 7.0–8.0; however, growth occurred in a temperature range of 10–32°C, a salts concentration of 5–25% (w/v) and pH 5.0–10.0. Tests for oxidase and catalase were positive. The cells produced poly-β-hydroxybutyric acid, but not exopolysaccharide. Based on the 16S rRNA gene sequence, not only was there low similarity between strain HwaT and all other species (94.1% similarity with H. subglaciescola DSM 4683T, 94.0% similarity with H. sulfidaeris Esulfide1T, 93.6% similarity with H. cerina SP4T and 93.0% similarity with H. halodurans DSM 5160T), but the phylogenetic analysis revealed that the isolate may be classified as a novel species belonging to the genus Halomonas in the class Gammaproteobacteria. The predominant fatty acids of strain HwaT were C18:1 ω7c, C16:0, C12:0 3-OH and C16:1 ω7c/C15:0 iso 2-OH. The DNA G+C content was calculated as 61.7 mol%. Based on phenotypic, genotypic, and phylogenetic characteristics, it is proposed that the strain designated as HwaT be assigned to the genus Halomonas as Halomonas jeotgali sp. nov. (=KCTC 22487T =JCM 15645T).