A description of the genus nom. rev.: sp. nov., a novel iodate-reducing bacterium, and two novel perchlorate-reducing bacteria, and , isolated from San Francisco Bay intertidal mudflats.

The genus is currently a non-validated taxon that has been identified in several recent publications as members of microbial communities arising from marine environments. Very little is known about the biology of spp., and no pure cultures are presently found in any culture collections. The current epitaph of was given to the organism under the assumption that all members of this genus are denitrifying bacteria. This study performs phenotypic and genomic analyses on three new spp. isolated from tidal mudflats in the San Francisco Bay. We demonstrate that spp. are indeed all facultative denitrifying bacteria that utilize a variety of carbon sources such as acetate, lactate, and succinate. In addition, individual strains also use the esoteric electron acceptors perchlorate, chlorate, and iodate. Both 16S and Rps/Rpl phylogenetic analyses place spp. as a deep branching clade in the family , separate from either spp., spp., or spp. Genome sequencing reveals a G + C content ranging from 63.72% to 66.54%, and genome sizes range between 4.39 and 5.18 Mb. Genes for salt tolerance and denitrification are distinguishing features that separate spp. from the closely related and genera. IMPORTANCE The genus is currently a non-validated taxon that has been identified in several recent publications as members of microbial communities arising from marine environments. Very little is known about the biology of spp., and no pure cultures are presently found in any culture collections. The current epitaph of was given to the organism under the assumption that all members of this genus are denitrifying bacteria. This study performs phenotypic and genomic analyses on three spp., sp. nov.-a novel iodate-reducing bacterium-and two novel perchlorate-reducing bacteria, and , isolated from San Francisco Bay intertidal mudflats.