Identification and Characteristics of Extreme Halophilic bacteria Isolated from a Saltern in Korea

한국 염전으로 부터 분리한 고도 호염성 세균의 동정 및 특성

Extremely halophilic bacteria isolated from salterns at Mado, Kyunggido, Korea, were identified and investigated on their salt requirements. The results have shown that six strains were identified to be belonged to the genus Halobacterium and three strains identified as the fenus Halococcus. Among them, the optimal NaCl concentration for growth of Halobacterium sp. EH10 was at 4.2M and no growth occurs below 2.0M NaCl. The strain, EH10, is nonmotile and showed acid production from glucose, fructose and maltose while H. salinarum is motile and does not produce acid from any carbohydrates. On the other hand, the strain EH10 does not utilize readily glucose while a number of sugars are readily utilized for growth with acid production by H. saccharovorum. Thus, the isolate, EH10, was classified into the genus Halobacterium and could be a novel species of the genus by its main morphological and physiological features including G+C content. The optimal temperature for growth of the isolate, EH10, was 50.deg.C. But this strain did not grow when NaCl was replaced with KCl.