Rhizobium desertarenae sp. nov., isolated from the Saline Desert Soil from the Rann of Kachchh, India

A novel bacterial strain designated ADMK78 was isolated from the saline desert soil. The cells were rod-shaped, Gram-negative, and non-motile. The strain ADMK78 grows best at 28°C and pH 7.0 and can tolerate up to 2% (w/v) NaCl. Based on 16S rRNA gene phylogeny, the strain ADMK78 belongs to the genus , with the highest similarity to W44 (98.7%) and shin9-1 (97.9%). Core-genes based phylogenetic analysis revealed that the strain ADMK78 forms a distinct branch in between shin9-1 and BAA-1503. The average nucleotide identity of ADMK78 was less than 82%, to members of the family . The genomic DNA G+C content of strain ADMK78 is 58.6 mol%. The major fatty acids of strain ADMK78 were C and C. The strain ADMK78 showed differences in physiological, phenotypic, and protein profiles estimated by MALDI-TOF MS to its closest relatives. Based on the phenotypic, chemotaxonomic properties, and phylogenetic analyses, the strain ADMK78 could be distinguished from the recognized species of the genus . It is suggested to represent a novel species of this genus, for which the name sp. nov. is proposed. The type strain is ADMK78 (=MCC 3400; KACC 21383; JCM 33657).