Proposal to transfer Halococcus turkmenicus, Halobacterium trapanicum JCM 9743 and strain GSL-11 to Haloterrigena turkmenica gen. nov., comb. nov.

The 16S rRNA gene sequences of Halococcus saccharolyticus and Halococcus salifodinae were closely related (94.5-94.7 % similarity) to that of Halococcus morrhuae, the type species of the genus Halococcus, However, Halococcus turkmenicus was distinct from the other members of this genus, with low 16S rRNA similarities when compared to Halococcus morrhuae (88.7 %), On the basis of phylogenetic tree reconstruction, detection of signature bases and DNA-DNA hybridization data, it is proposed to transfer Halococcus turkmenicus to a novel genus, Haloterrigena, as Haloterrigena turkmenica gen, nov., comb. nov., and to accommodate Halobacterium trapanicum JCM 9743 and strain GSL-11 in the same species, On the basis of morphological, cultural and 16S rRNA sequence data, it is also proposed that the culture collection strains of Halobacterium trapanicum NCIMB 767, ATCC 43102 and JCM 8979 should be renamed as Halococcus sp.