Haloferax profundi sp. nov. and Haloferax marisrubri sp. nov., Isolated from the Discovery Deep Brine-Seawater Interface in the Red Sea

Guishan Zhang; Xiaoyan Dong; Yingjiao Sun; André Antunes; Tyas Hikmawan; Mohamed Fauzi Haroon; Junru Wang; Ulrich Stingl

doi:10.3390/microorganisms8101475

Haloferax profundi sp. nov. and Haloferax marisrubri sp. nov., Isolated from the Discovery Deep Brine-Seawater Interface in the Red Sea

Microorganisms. 2020 Sep 25;8(10):1475. doi: 10.3390/microorganisms8101475.

Authors

Guishan Zhang^{1

2}, Xiaoyan Dong³, Yingjiao Sun², André Antunes^{1

4}, Tyas Hikmawan¹, Mohamed Fauzi Haroon¹, Junru Wang², Ulrich Stingl^{1

5}

Affiliations

¹ Red Sea Research Center, King Abdullah University of Science and Technology, Thuwal Jeddah 23955-6900, Saudi Arabia.
² Key Laboratory of Microbial Resources Collection and Preservation, Ministry of Agriculture, Institute of Agricultural Resources and Regional Planning, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Beijing 100081, China.
³ Jiangsu Provincial Key Lab for Organic Solid Waste Utilization, National Engineering Research Center for Organic-based Fertilizers, Jiangsu Collaborative Innovation Center for Solid Organic Waste Resource Utilization, Nanjing Agricultural University, Nanjing 210095, China.
⁴ State Key Laboratory of Lunar and Planetary Sciences, Macau University of Science and Technology, Taipa, Macau SAR, China.
⁵ Department of Microbiology and Cell Sciences, Fort Lauderdale Research and Education Center, UF/IFAS, University of Florida, Davie, FL 33314, USA.

Abstract

Two extremely halophilic archaeal strains, designated SB29^T and SB3^T, were isolated from the brine-seawater interface of Discovery Deep in the Red Sea. Cells of both strains were pleomorphic (irregular polyhedrals, ovals, and rods) and stained Gram-negative; colonies were pigmented pink. The sequence similarity of the 16S rRNA gene of strain SB29^T with that of its most closely related validly described species (Hfx. sulfurifontis DSM 16227^T) and that of strain SB3^T with its closest validly described relative (Hfx. denitrificans ATCC 35960^T) was 98.1% and 98.6%, respectively. The incomplete draft genomes of SB29^T and SB3^T are 3,871,125 bp and 3,904,985 bp in size, respectively, and their DNA G + C contents are 60.75% and 65.64%, respectively. The highest ANI values between the genomes of SB29^T and SB3^T and the most closely related genomes in GenBank were determined as 82.6% (Hfx. sulfurifontis ATCC BAA-897^T, GenBank accession no. GCA_000337835.1) and 92.6% (Haloferax denitrificans ATCC 35960^T, GenBank accession no. GCA_000337795.1), respectively. These data indicate that the two new isolates cannot be classified into any recognized species of the genus Haloferax, and, therefore, two novel species of the genus Haloferax are proposed: Haloferax profundi sp. nov. (type strain SB29^T = JCM 19567^T = CGMCC 1.14960^T) and Haloferax marisrubri sp. nov. (type strain SB3^T = JCM 19566^T = CGMCC 1.14958^T).

Keywords: Haloferax marisrubri; Haloferax profundi; brine pool; halophilic archaeon.

Grants and funding

SEDCO Research Excellence Award to US./King Abdullah University of Science and Technology