%0 Journal Article %A Prathyash Ushus, M. J. %A Divyasree, B. %A Lakshmi, K. V. N. S. %A Dave, Bharti P. %A Sasikala, Ch. %A Ramana, Ch. V. %T Description of a phototrophic bacterium, Thiorhodococcus alkaliphilus sp. nov. %D 2017 %J International Journal of Systematic and Evolutionary Microbiology, %V 67 %N 7 %P 2323-2327 %@ 1466-5034 %R https://doi.org/10.1099/ijsem.0.001947 %K proteobacteria %K new species %K phototroph %K Thiorhodococcus %I Microbiology Society, %X Strain JA878T was purified from a photoheterotrophic enrichment obtained from a sediment sample of a brown pond near Nari Salt Pan, Bhavnagar, Gujarat, India. Cells of the isolate were coccoid, motile by means of single polar flagellum and Gram-stain-negative. The internal photosynthetic membrane architecture was vesicular. Strain JA878T contained bacteriochlorophyll a and spirilloxanthin series of carotenoids with rhodopin (>85 %) as the major component. Strain JA878T grew optimally at pH 10–11, and had no requirement for NaCl (tolerated up to 6 %, w/v) or vitamins for growth. C16 : 1ω7c/C16  : 1ω6c, C18 : 1ω7c/C18  : 1ω6c and C16 : 0 were identified as the major fatty acids (>10 %). Phosphatidylglycerol, phosphatidylethanolamine, aminophospholipid and an unknown polar lipid were identified. Q8 was the predominant quinone system in strain JA878T. The DNA G+C content was 62.4 mol%. Highest 16S rRNA gene sequence similarity through EzTaxon-based blast analysis of strain JA878T was found with the type strains of Thiorhodococcus fuscus (99 %), Thiorhodococcus kakinadensis (98.6 %), Thiohalobacter thiocyanaticus (98.4 %), Thiophaeococcus fuscus (97.3 %) and other members of the class Gammaproteobacteria (<97.3 %), revealing a close affiliation to the genera Thiorhodococcus , Thiohalobacter and Thiophaeococcus . However, the phylogenetic treeing firmly placed the strain in the genus Thiorhodococcus . Phenotypic and chemotaxonomic evidence supported the affiliation of strain JA878T to the genus Thiorhodococcus and not to Thiohalobacter , Thiophaeococcus or other known genera of Chromatiaceae . Distinct physiological, genotypic and chemotaxonomic differences indicate that strain JA878T represents a novel species of the genus Thiorhodococcus , for which the name Thiorhodococcus alkaliphilus sp. nov. is proposed. The type strain is JA878T (=KCTC 15531T=JCM 31245T). %U https://www.microbiologyresearch.org/content/journal/ijsem/10.1099/ijsem.0.001947