Saccharospirillum correiae sp nov., an endophytic bacterium isolated from the halophyte Halimione portulacoides

A Gram-stain negative, oxidase-and catalase-positive, motile, aerobic, non-pigmented spirillum, designated CPA1(T), was isolated from The surface-sterilized tissues of a halophyte, Halimione portulacoides, collected from a salt marsh in Aveiro, Portugal. The isolate was mesophilic, facultatively alkaliphilic and halophilic, and grew between 18 and 42.5 degrees C (optimum 30 degrees C), from pH 5.0 to 11.5 (optimum 7.0-7.5), from 0.5 to 5% NaCl (w/v, optimum 2 %). Analysis of the 16S rRNA gene sequence showed that this strain belongs to the genus Saccharospirillum, as the highest sequence similarities were observed with Saccharospirillum impatiens EL-105(T) (96.46 %), Saccharospirillum salsuginis YIM-Y25(T) (96.32 %) and Saccharospirillum aestuarii IMCC 4453(T) (95.17 %). The next closest matches were with other genera and below 95.0 %. Phylogenetic analyses revealed that the strain forms a robust clade with other species of the genus Saccharospirillum. The main respiratory quinone was Q-8 and the major fatty acids were C-16 : 0 and summed feature 8 (C-18 : 1 omega 7c and/or C-18 : 1 omega 6c). The DNA G+ C content was 55.2 mol%. Molecular, physiological and biochemical differences between strain CPA1(T) and other type strains of species of the genus Saccharospirillum support the addition of this novel species to the genus, and the name Saccharospirillum correiae sp. nov. is proposed, with CPA1(T) (= CECT 9131(T) = LMG 29516(T)) as the type strain.