Dethiosulfovibrio salsuginis sp. nov., an anaerobic, slightly halophilic bacterium isolated from a saline spring

A mesophilic, strictly anaerobic, slightly halophilic bacterium, designated strain USBA 82^T, was isolated from a terrestrial saline spring in the Colombian Andes. The non-spore-forming curved rods (5-7x1.3 um) with pointed or rounded ends, stained Gram-negative and were motile by means of laterally inserted flagella. The strain grew optimally at 30 °C (growth range 20-40 °C), pH 7.3 (growth range pH 5.5-8.5) and 2 % (w/v) NaCl (growth range 0.1-7 % NaCl). The strain fermented peptides, amino acids and a few organic acids, but growth was not observed on carbohydrates, alcohols or fatty acids. The strain reduced thiosulfate and sulfur to sulfide. Sulfate, sulfite, nitrate and nitrite were not used as electron acceptors. On peptone alone, acetate, succinate, propionate and traces of ethanol were formed, but in the presence of thiosulfate, acetate and succinate were formed. The G + C content of the chromosomal DNA was 52 mol% (T_m). 16S rRNA gene sequence analysis indicated that strain USBA 82^T was affiliated to Dethiosulfovibrio peptidovorans within the phylum Synergistetes with a similarity value of approximately 93 %. Based on the differences between the new strain and the type species of the genus Dethiosulfovibrio, we suggest that strain USBA 82 ^T represents a novel species of the genus for which the name Dethiosulfovibrio salsuginis sp. nov. is proposed. The type strain is USBA 82^T (=DSM 21565^T=KCTC 5659^T).