Georgenia deserti sp. nov., a halotolerant actinobacterium isolated from a desert sample.

Strain SYSU D8004 was 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 D8004 shared highest sequence similarity with Georgenia halophila YIM 93316 (96.5 %). Menaquinone MK-8(H4) was detected as the respiratory quinone. The polar lipid profile of strain SYSU D8004 consisted of diphosphatidylglycerol, phosphatidylglycerol, phosphatidylinositol, two phosphatidylinositol mannosides, two unidentified phospholipids and an unidentified glycolipid. Strain SYSU D8004 contained anteiso-C15 : 0, iso-C15 : 0 and C14 : 0 as 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 D8004 could be differentiated from other closely related members of the genus Georgenia. Strain SYSU D8004 is therefore considered to represent a novel species of the genus Georgenia, for which the name Georgenia deserti sp. nov. is proposed. The type strain is SYSU D8004 (=CGMCC 1.15793=KCTC 39987).