Halobium palmae gen. nov., sp nov., an extremely halophilic archaeon isolated from a solar saltern

A novel and extremely halophilic archaeon, designated strain 2a_47_2(T), was isolated from a solar saltern sample collected in Indonesia. Cells of the strain were Gram-stain-negative, non-motile and pleomorphic and formed orange-red pigmented colonies. Strain 2a_47_2(T) grew at 20-48 degrees C (optimum 38-41 degrees C), pH 6.0-8.5 (optimum pH 7.5), > 1.7 M NaCl (optimum 2.6 M) and < 0.5 M MgCl2 (optimum 0.3 M). The major polar lipids were phosphatidylglycerol, phosphatidylglycerol phosphate methyl ester, two phospholipids and sulfated diglycosyl diether. The cells mainly contained menaquinone-8. The G+C content in the genomic DNA of the strain was 67.0 mol%. Phylogenetic analysis based on 16S rRNA gene sequences indicated that strain 2a_47_2(T) represents a member of the family Halorubraceae and is different from any other known halophilic archaea. This finding was also demonstrated by phylogenetic analyses based on deduced RpoB' amino acid sequences. Collectively, these results show that strain 2a_47_2(T) represents a novel genus and species in the family Halorubraceae, and the name Halobium palmae gen. nov., sp. nov. is proposed. The type strain is 2a_47_2(T) (=NBRC 111368(T) =InaCC Ar34(T)).