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Halalkalicoccus subterraneus sp. nov., an extremely halophilic archaeon isolated from a subterranean halite deposit

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Abstract

An extremely halophilic archaeon, designated strain GSM28T, was isolated from a subterranean halite deposit in a Yunnan salt mine, China. Cells of the strain were observed to be cocci, non-motile and Gram-variable, and to require at least 15% (w/v) NaCl for growth (optimum 20%). Growth was found to occur in the ranges of 20–45 °C (optimum 42 °C) and pH 6.0–8.5 (optimum 7.5). Cells did not lyse in distilled water. Phylogenetic analysis based on 16S rRNA gene sequences indicated that this strain belongs to the genus Halalkalicoccus and shows 99.1% similarities with its close phylogenetic relative Halalkalicoccus paucihalophilus DSM 24557T. Genomic ANI analysis showed that the DNA–DNA relatedness between strain GSM28T and the closely related species Hac. paucihalophilus DSM 24557T and Halalkalicoccus jeotgali B3T was 83.7% and 83.1%, respectively. The major polar lipids were determined to be phosphatidylglycerol, phosphatidylglycerol phosphate methyl ester, phosphatidylglycerol sulfate, sulfated mannosyl-glucosyl-glycerol diether-1 and two unidentified glycolipids. The DNA G + C content was determined to be 61.8 mol %. On the basis of physiological, biochemical tests and phylogenetic differentiations, strain GSM28T is concluded to represent a novel species in the genus Halalkalicoccus, for which the name Halalkalicoccus subterraneus sp. nov. is proposed. The type strain is GSM28T (= CGMCC 1.16344T = NBRC 113432T).

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Abbreviations

MES:

2-Morpholinoethanesulfonic acid

PIPES:

1, 4-Piperazine bis (ethanesulfonic acid)

CHES:

2-(Cyclohexylamino) ethanesulfonic acid

CAPS:

N-Cyclohexyl-3-aminopropanesulfonic acid

DMSO:

Dimethylsulfoxide

OD:

Optical density

ANI:

Average nucleotide identity

MLSA:

Multilocus sequence analysis

DDH:

DNA–DNA hybridization

TLC:

Thin-layer chromatography

PG:

Phosphatidylglycerol

PGP-Me:

Phosphatidylglycerol phosphate methyl ester

S-DGD-1:

Sulfated mannosyl-glucosyl-glycerol diether-1

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Acknowledgements

We thank Professor Zhu L. Yang from the Kunming Institute of Botany, Chinese Academy of Sciences for the help in sample collection, and we also thank Dr. Hao Yan from the College of Life Sciences, Anhui Normal University, for his technical assistance.

Funding

This work was supported by grants from the National Natural Science Foundation of China (31460003), the Anhui Provincial Key Lab. of the Conservation and Exploitation of Biological Resources (591601), and the Department of Education Anhui Province, China.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. College of Life Sciences, Anhui Normal University, No. 1 Beijing East Road, Wuhu, 241000, Anhui, People’s Republic of China

    Shaoxing Chen, Yao Xu, Siqi Sun, Feilong Chen & Jingwen Liu

  2. College of Life Sciences, Honghe University, No. 1 Xuefu Road, Mengzi, 661100, Yunnan, People’s Republic of China

    Shaoxing Chen

Authors
  1. Shaoxing Chen
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  2. Yao Xu
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  3. Siqi Sun
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  4. Feilong Chen
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  5. Jingwen Liu
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Contributions

SC conceived the project, analysed the data, and drafted the manuscript. SC, YX, SS and FC performed the study. YX and JL critically revised the manuscript. All authors read and approved the final manuscript.

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Correspondence to Shaoxing Chen.

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No specific ethical or institutional permits were required to conduct sampling and the experimental studies did not involve endangered or protected species.

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Chen, S., Xu, Y., Sun, S. et al. Halalkalicoccus subterraneus sp. nov., an extremely halophilic archaeon isolated from a subterranean halite deposit. Antonie van Leeuwenhoek 112, 1067–1075 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10482-019-01241-3

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