DESCRIPTION OF 2 NEW SPECIES OF HALOMONAS - HALOMONAS-ISRAELENSIS SP-NOV AND HALOMONAS-CANADENSIS SP-NOV

Six well-known strains of halotolerant bacteria, including two strains previously identified only as NRCC 41227 and Ba-1, have been compared using 125 phenotypic characters and DNA-DNA hybridization. Although t hese strains represent some of the most heavily studied salt-tolerant bacteria. they have never been taxonomically compared. The data presen ted show that these bacteria form a relatively homogeneous group relat ed at the genus level. The taxonomic comparison showed that those six organisms; represented four distinct species all related above the 65% Jaccard coefficient level. In addition to two previously identified b acterial species, Halomonas elongata (ATCC 33173(T)) and Halomonas hal odurans (ATCC 29686(T)), the strains included in this study represent two previously unnamed Halomonas species. These two new taxa have been assigned the names Halomonas israelensis (ATCC 43985(T)) and Halomona s canadensis (NRCC 41227(T) = ATCC 43984). DNA-DNA hybridizations show that these two species are related to the type species H. elongata at 54.9 and 48.9%, respectively.