Vol.:(0123456789) 1 3
Current Microbiology
https://doi.org/10.1007/s00284-020-01892-w
Halomonas sambharensis sp. nov., a Moderately Halophilic Bacterium
Isolated from the Saltern Crystallizer Ponds of the Sambhar Salt Lake
in India
Bijayendra Kushwaha
1
· Indrani Jadhav
1
· Kapilesh Jadhav
2
Received: 20 August 2019 / Accepted: 18 January 2020
© Springer Science+Business Media, LLC, part of Springer Nature 2020
Abstract
Two moderately halophilic strains SBS 10
T
and SSO 06 were isolated from the saltern crystallizer ponds of the hypersaline
Sambhar Salt Lake in India. Strains were aerobic, Gram-stain-negative, and rod shaped. Phylogenetic analysis based on the
16S rRNA gene sequences indicated that two strains belong to the genus Halomonas in the Gammaproteobacteria, with
highest 16S rRNA gene sequence similarities with Halomonas gudaonensis LMG 23610
T
(98.2% similarity) and Halomonas
campaniensis 5AG
T
(99.0% similarity). Strains grew optimally at 37 °C, pH 7.5–8.0 in the presence of 5–8% (w/v) NaCl.
The major fatty acids of the strain SBS 10
T
were C
18:1
ω7c (54.37%), C
16:0
(25.69%), C
16:1
× 7c/C
16:1
× 6c (13.28%), and C
12:0
(1.21%). The G+C content was 63.6 mol % (T
m
). Phenotypic features, fatty acids profle, and DNA G+C content supported
placement of the strain SBS 10
T
in the genus Halomonas having distinct characteristics with related strains. Analysis of
the housekeeping genes: gryB and rpoD and in silico DNA-DNA hybridization between the strain SBS 10
T
and its type
strain Halomonas gudaonensis (LMG 23610
T
) further revealed the strain SBS 10
T
to be a distinct species. On the basis of
the phenotypic, chemotaxonomic and phylogenetic analysis, the strain SBS 10
T
is considered to represent a novel species
for which the name Halomonas sambharensis is proposed. The type strain is SBS 10
T
(= MTCC 12313
T
= LMG 30344
T
).
Introduction
The family Halomonadaceae currently includes more than
100 species grouped into twelve genera. With some excep-
tions, a majority of them are halophilic while some are alka-
liphilic. The Halomonas is the largest genus [1, 2].
Microorganisms belonging to the genus Halomonas were
frst isolated from a hypersaline habitat including hypersa-
line lakes, hypersaline soils, and solar salterns [3–8]. Its
members are widespread in the biosphere and colonize some
of the extreme environments on earth [9–11]. This dissemi-
nation suggests that they have developed specifc mecha-
nisms to adapt and display a broad physiological plasticity
and metabolic versatility, leading to the emergence of a new
species [12–14].
Strains SBS 10
T
and SSO 06 were isolated from the salt-
ern crystallizer ponds of the Sambhar Salt Lake located
96 km southwest of the city Jaipur (Northwest India)
in Rajasthan state. The lake has a 5700 km
2
catchment area
and is situated in latitude 26
o
58′ N and longitude 75
o
05′ E
of the Aravalli hills. The depth of the water in lake fuctuates
between as low as 60 cm (24 in) in the dry season to 3 m
(10ft) at the end of monsoon. Concentration of salts in lake
The type strain, SBS 10
T
(= MTCC 12313
T
= LMG 30344
T
), and
the strain SSO 06 (= MTCC 12312 = LMG 30343) were isolated
from the saltern crystallizer ponds of the hypersaline Sambhar Salt
Lake in India.
The GenBank/EMBL/DDBJ accession numbers for the 16S rRNA
gene sequence of the strain SBS 10
T
is KT796562. The accession
number for the draft genome sequences of the strain SBS 10
T
is
RXHI00000000.
Electronic supplementary material The online version of this
article (https://doi.org/10.1007/s00284-020-01892-w) contains
supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.
* Kapilesh Jadhav
jadhavkapilesh@gmail.com
1
School of Life Sciences, Jaipur National University, Jaipur,
India
2
School of Engineering and Technology, Jaipur National
University, Jaipur, India