Pontibacter salisaro sp nov., Isolated from a Clay Tablet Solar Saltern in Korea

A Gram-negative, aerobic, rod-shaped, and red-pigmented bacterial strain, HMC5104(T), was isolated from a solar saltern, found in Jeungdo, Republic of Korea (34 degrees 59'47 '' N 126 degrees 10'02 '' E). The major fatty acids were summed feature 4 (comprising iso-C-17:1 I and/or anteiso-C-17:1 B; 37.2%), iso-C-15:0 (20.4%), and iso-C-17:0 3OH (15.3%). The DNA G+C content was 46.0 mol%. The major isoprenoid quinone was menaquinone-7 (MK-7). A phylogenetic tree based on 16S rRNA gene sequences showed that strain HMC5104(T) formed a lineage within the genus Pontibacter, and was closely related to Pontibacter korlensis (95.9%), P. roseus (94.9%), and P. actiniarum (94.3%). Similarities to all other Pontibacter, species were between 95.9-93.9%. On the basis of the evidence presented in this study, strain HMC5104(T) represents a novel species of the genus Pontibacter, for which the name Pontibacter salisaro sp. nov. is proposed. The type strain is HMC5104(T) (=KCTC 22712(T) =NBRC 105731(T)).