IAnianabacter salinae/I gen. nov., sp. nov. ASV31[sup.T], a Facultative Alkaliphilic and Extremely Halotolerant Bacterium Isolated from Brine of a Millennial Continental Saltern

During a prokaryotic diversity study in Añana Salt Valley, a new Rhodobacteraceae member, designated ASV31[sup.T] , was isolated from Santa Engracia spring water. It was extremely halotolerant, tolerating up to 23% NaCl, and facultatively alkaliphilic, growing at pH 6.5–9.5 (optimum at 7.0–9.5). The isolate was a Gram-negative, rod-shaped, aerobic and non-motile bacterium that formed beige-to-pink colonies on marine agar. According to a 16S rRNA gene-based phylogenetic analysis, strain ASV31[sup.T] forms a distinct branch of the family Rhodobacteraceae, with Thioclava pacifica DSM 10166[sup.T] being its closest type strain (95.3%). This was confirmed with a phylogenomic tree and the values of ANI (73.9%), dDDH (19.3%), AAI (63.5%) and POCP (56.0%), which were below the genus/species level boundary. Additionally, an ability to degrade aromatic compounds and biosynthesise secondary metabolites was suggested by the genome of strain ASV31[sup.T] . Distinguishing fatty acid profiles and polar lipid content were also observed. The genome size was 3.6 Mbp, with a DNA G+C content of 65.7%. Based on the data obtained, it was considered that strain ASV31[sup.T] (=CECT 30309[sup.T] = LMG 32242[sup.T] ) represents a new species of a new genus in the family Rhodobacteraceae, for which the name Anianabacter salinae gen. nov., sp. nov. is proposed.