<Emphasis Type="Italic">Deinococcus soli</Emphasis> sp. nov., a gamma- and UV-radiation-resistant bacterium from north-west China

An ionizing- and UV-radiation-resistant bacterial strain, designated ZLM-202^T, was isolated from an arid soil sample collected from Xinjiang Province, north-west China. The soil sample was irradiated before serial dilution plating was performed using twofold-diluted marine agar. Phylogenetic analysis based on 16S rRNA gene sequences indicated that strain ZLM-202^T was a member of the genus Deinococcus, exhibiting sequence similarities of 86.3–92.2% to the type strains of recognized Deinococcus species. Strain-ZLM-202^T was strictly aerobic and showed optimum growth at 30–37°C and pH 7.0. The major respiratory menaquinone was MK-8. The major fatty acids were 16:1 ω7c, 16: 0, 15: 1 ω6c, 15: 0 iso and 16: 1 ω5c. L-ornithine was detected in its peptidoglycan. The polar lipid profile consisted mainly of various unknown phosphoglycolipids, aminophospholipids, glycolipids and phospholipids. The DNA G + C content was 65.5 mol. %. The strain was shown to be extremely resistant to gamma radiation (>10 kGy) and UV light (>600 J m⁻²). On the basis of the phylogenetic, chemotaxonomic and phenotypic data, strain ZLM-202^T represents a novel species of the genus Deinococcus, for which the name Deinococcus soli sp. nov. is proposed. The type strain is ZLM-202^T (=CCTCC AB 208223^T=KCTC 13419^T).