Abstract

Strain SYSU D8004Twas isolated from a sample collected from an arid area in Saudi Arabia. The isolate was Gram-stain-positive, non-motile, aerobic and non-spore-forming. It could grow at 4–45 °C, at pH 6.0–10.0 and in the presence of up to 17 % (w/v) NaCl. Pairwise comparison of the 16S rRNA gene sequences indicated that strain SYSU D8004Tshared highest sequence similarity withGeorgenia halophilaYIM 93316T(96.5 %). Menaquinone MK-8(H4) was detected as the respiratory quinone. The polar lipid profile of strain SYSU D8004Tconsisted of diphosphatidylglycerol, phosphatidylglycerol, phosphatidylinositol, two phosphatidylinositol mannosides, two unidentified phospholipids and an unidentified glycolipid. Strain SYSU D8004Tcontained anteiso-C15 : 0, iso-C15 : 0and C14 : 0as the predominant fatty acids (>10 %). Galactose, glucose and rhamnose were detected as whole-cell sugars. Based on analyses of the phenotypic, genotypic and phylogenetic characteristics, it was determined that strain SYSU D8004Tcould be differentiated from other closely related members of the genusGeorgenia. Strain SYSU D8004Tis therefore considered to represent a novel species of the genusGeorgenia, for which the nameGeorgenia desertisp. nov. is proposed. The type strain is SYSU D8004T(=CGMCC 1.15793T=KCTC 39987T).