sp. nov., a bacterium isolated from a hypersaline lake.

Strain Llam7 was isolated from microbial mat samples from the hypersaline lake Salar de Llamará, located in Taracapá region in the hyper-arid core of the Atacama Desert (Chile). Phenotypic, chemotaxonomic and genomic traits were studied. Phylogenetic analyses based on 16S rRNA gene sequences assigned the strain to the family with affiliation to the genera and . Major fatty acids were Cω8, iso-C, iso-C and anteiso-C. The cell walls contained -diaminopimelic acid and ll-2,6 diaminopimelic acid (ll-DAP), while major whole-cell sugars were glucose, mannose, xylose and ribose. The major menaquinones were MK-9(H) and MK-9(H). As polar lipids phosphatidylglycerol, phosphatidylethanolamine, diphosphatidylglycerol and several unidentified lipids, i.e. two glycolipids, one aminolipid, three phospholipids, one aminoglycolipid and one phosphoglycolipid, were detected. Genome sequencing revealed a genome size of 6.894 Mb and a DNA G+C content of 71.4 mol%. Phylogenetic analyses with complete genome sequences positioned strain Llam7 within the family forming a distinct cluster with (former ) DSM 45730. This cluster is related to KJ-029, NA12, and LHW63014 as well as to all members of the former genera and , which were re-classified as members of the genus , forming a clade distinct from the genus . Pairwise whole genome average nucleotide identity (ANI) values, digital DNA-DNA hybridization (dDDH) values, the presence of the diamino acid ll-DAP, and the composition of whole sugars and polar lipids indicate that Llam7 represents a novel species, for which the name sp. nov. is proposed, with Llam7 (=DSM 109510,=LMG 31023) as the type strain.