title: Halosiccatus urmianusgen. nov., sp. nov., a haloarchaeon from a salt lake.
abstract: A novel, orange-pigmented, halophilic archaeon, strain DC8T, was isolated from Urmia salt lake in north-west Iran. The cells of strain DC8Twere non-motile and pleomorphic, from small rods to triangular or disc shaped. The novel strain needed at least 2.5 M NaCl and 0.02 M MgCl2for growth. Optimal growth was achieved at 4.0 M NaCl and 0.1 M MgCl2. The optimum pH and temperature for growth were pH 7.5 and 45 °C, respectively, and it was able to grow over a pH range of 7.0 to 8.5 and a temperature range of 25 to 55 °C. Analysis of the 16S rRNA gene sequence showed that strain DC8Twas a member of the familyHalobacteriaceae; however, its similarity was as low as 90.1 %, 89.3 % and 89.1 % to the most closely related haloarchaeal taxa, including type species of members of the generaHalosimplex,HalobaculumandHalomicrobium, respectively. The G+C content of its DNA was 68.1 mol%. Polar lipid analyses revealed that strain DC8Tcontained phosphatidylglycerol, phosphatidylglycerol phosphate methyl ester, phosphatidylglycerol sulfate and phosphatidic acid. One unknown phospholipid, two major glycolipids and one minor glycolipid were also detected. The only quinone present was MK-8 (II-H2). The physiological, biochemical and phylogenetic differences between strain DC8Tand other extremely halophilic archaeal genera with validly published names supported that this strain represents a novel species of a new genus within the familyHalobacteriaceae, for which the nameHalosiccatus urmianusgen. nov., sp. nov. is proposed. The type strain is strain DC8T( = IBRC-M 10911T= CECT 8793T).
authors.affiliation: Extremophiles Laboratory, Department of Microbiology, Faculty of Biology and Center of Excellence in Phylogeny of Living Organisms, College of Science, University of Tehran, Tehran, Iran.|Microorganisms Bank, Iranian Biological Resource Centre (IBRC), ACECR Tehran, Iran.
authors.forename: Maliheh
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Mehrshad
authors.affiliation: Extremophiles Laboratory, Department of Microbiology, Faculty of Biology and Center of Excellence in Phylogeny of Living Organisms, College of Science, University of Tehran, Tehran, Iran.
authors.forename: Mohammad Ali
authors.initials: MA
authors.lastname: Amoozegar
authors.affiliation: Department of Biology, Faculty of Science, Ferdowsi University of Mashhad, Mashhad, Iran.
authors.forename: Ali
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Makhdoumi
authors.affiliation: Microorganisms Bank, Iranian Biological Resource Centre (IBRC), ACECR Tehran, Iran.
authors.forename: Seyed Abolhassan Shahzadeh
authors.initials: SAS
authors.lastname: Fazeli
authors.affiliation: Extremophiles Laboratory, Department of Microbiology, Faculty of Biology and Center of Excellence in Phylogeny of Living Organisms, College of Science, University of Tehran, Tehran, Iran.
authors.forename: Homa
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Farahani
authors.affiliation: Extremophiles Laboratory, Department of Microbiology, Faculty of Biology and Center of Excellence in Phylogeny of Living Organisms, College of Science, University of Tehran, Tehran, Iran.
authors.forename: Basaer
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Asadi
authors.affiliation: Leibniz Institute DSMZ-German Collection of Microorganisms and Cell Cultures, Inhoffenstraße 7B, 38124 Braunschweig, Germany.
authors.forename: Peter
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Schumann
authors.affiliation: Department of Microbiology and Parasitology, Faculty of Pharmacy, University of Sevilla, 41012 Sevilla, Spain.
authors.forename: Antonio
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Ventosa