Halomonas almeriensis sp. nov., a moderately halophilic, exopolysaccharide-producing bacterium from Cabo de Gata, Almería, south-east Spain

Halomonas almeriensis sp. nov. is a Gram-negative non-motile rod that was isolated from a saltern in the Cabo de Gata-Níjar wildlife reserve in Almería, south-east Spain. It is moderately halophilic, capable of growth at concentrations of 5-25% w/v sea-salt mixture, the optimum being 7.5% w/v. It is chemo-organotrophic and strictly aerobic, produces catalase but not oxidase, does not produce acid from any sugar and does not synthesize hydrolytic enzymes. The most notable difference between this micro-organism and other Halomonas species is that it is very fastidious in its use of a carbon source. It forms mucoid colonies due to the production of an exopolysaccharide. Its G+C content is 63.5 mol%. A comparison of 16S rRNA gene sequences confirmed its relationship to Halomonas species. The most closely related species is Halomonas halmophila with 95.8% similarity between their 16S rRNA gene sequences. DNA-DNA hybridization with H. halmophila is 10.1%. Its major fatty acids are 18:1omega7c, 16:0, 16:1omega7c/15:0 iso 2-OH, 12:0 3-OH, 12:0, 11-methyl 18:1omega7c and 10:0. The proposed name is Halomonas almeriensis sp. nov., with strain M8(T) (=CECT 7050(T)=LMG 22904(T)) as the type strain.