A Gram-staining positive, non-spore forming, short rod-shaped and coccus-shaped, non-motile, pink-colored, gamma- and UV-resistant strain, designated T93T was isolated from soil of Malan area in Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region, Northwest China. The taxonomic position of the new isolate was determined using a polyphasic approach. Strain T93T shared the highest 16 S rRNA gene sequence similarity with Deinococcus deserti VCD115T (97.54%). The genomic DNA G+C content of the isolate T93T was 61.7 mol%. The predominant menaquinone was MK-8, while the major cellular fatty acids were iso-C16:0, C15:1 ω6c, C16:0, C17:1 ω8c and Summed Feature 3 (comprising C16:1 ω7c and/or C16:1 ω6c). The major polar lipid profiles consisted of diphosphatidylglycerol and phosphatidylinositol mannoside. Based on the phenotypic and genotypic data, strain T93T is considered to represent a novel species of the genus Deinococcus, for which the name Deinococcus malanensis sp. nov. is proposed. The type strain is T93T (= KCTC 33563T = JCM 30331T).
Keywords: Deinococcus malanensis sp. nov.; Malan area; Polyphasic taxonomy.