Thermobacterium salinum gen. nov., sp. nov., a novel member of the family Flavobacteriaceae isolated from a hydrothermal zone.

A Gram-stain-negative, aerobic, non-motile and rod-shaped bacterial strain, designated as strain TK19130T, was isolated from the Lonqi hydrothermal zone in the Southwest Indian Ridge. Growth occurred with 1-12 % (w/v) NaCl (optimum, 2-4 %), at 10-40 °C (optimum, 30-35 °C) and at pH 6.0-9.0 (optimum, pH 7.0-8.0). The genome of strain TK19130T was 3.15 Mb, with a DNA G+C content of 41.35 %. Based on the results of 16S rRNA gene sequence analysis, strain TK19130T was affiliated with the family Flavobacteriaceae, in which the highest similarity was 90.54 % to Aureisphaera salina A6D-50T, under the genus demarcation boundary (94.50 %). Average nucleotide identity values between strain TK19130T and adjacent strains were 67.17-72.00 %, lower than the recommended threshold of 73.98 % for genus delineation. The predominant respiratory quinone of strain TK19130T was menaquinone 6. Major polar lipids were phosphatidylethanolamine, three aminolipids and one unidentified polar lipid. Major fatty acids were detected as iso-C15 : 1 G, iso-C15 : 0 and iso-C17 : 0 3-OH. Based on the polyphasic taxonomic evidence presented above, strain TK19130T formed an independent branch representing a new species of a novel genus within the family Flavobacteriaceae, for which the name Thermobacterium salinum gen. nov., sp. nov. is proposed. The type strain is TK19130T (=CGMCC 1.18993T=JCM 35842T=MCCC M28200T).