A novel yellow-pigmented, non-motile, non-sporulating, catalase- and oxidase-positive, obligately aerobic, moderately halophilic, facultatively alkaliphilic Gram-positive coccus, strain YIM Y15^T, was isolated from a brine sample from a salt mine in Yunnan, south-west China. Strain YIM Y15^Tgrew in the presence of 0.5–25 % (w/v) NaCl and at pH 6.0–10.0, with optimum growth at 8–10 % (w/v) NaCl and pH 8.0. It grew at 4–45 °C, with optimum growth at 37.0 °C. The major cellular fatty acids were anteiso-C_15 : 0and iso-C_15 : 0. Menaquinone 6 (MK-6) was the major respiratory quinone. The cell wall contained Lys and Gly. The DNA G+C content was 46.2 mol%. Phylogenetic analyses based on 16S rRNA gene sequence comparisons revealed that strain YIM Y15^Twas a member of the genusSalinicoccus, with low 16S rRNA gene sequence similarity to the type strains of the five described species of the genus,Salinicoccus alkaliphilusJCM 11311^T(sequence similarity 96.0 %),Salinicoccus roseusDSM 5351^T(94.9 %),Salinicoccus jeotgaliKCTC 13030^T(94.8 %),Salinicoccus salsiraiaeLMG 22840^T(94.8 %) andSalinicoccus hispanicusDSM 5352^T(94.7 %). Together with the phenotypic differences, these results supported the proposal of a novel species of the genusSalinicoccus,Salinicoccus kunmingensissp. nov., with YIM Y15^T(=DSM 17847^T=CGMCC 1.6302^T) as the type strain.

A Gram-positive, aerobic, non-motile, mesophilic strain, designated YIM 45721T, was isolated from a rhizosphere soil sample in Yunnan Province, China. On the basis of 16S rRNA gene sequence similarity analysis, strain YIM 45721T was assigned to the genus Microlunatus and was most closely related to the type strain of Microlunatus phosphovorus (98.2 % 16S rRNA gene sequence similarity). Chemotaxonomic data, including cell-wall peptidoglycan structure, menaquinones and fatty acid profile, supported affiliation of strain YIM 45721T to the genus Microlunatus. Results of DNA-DNA hybridization and physiological and biochemical tests enabled strain YIM 45721T to be differentiated genotypically and phenotypically from M. phosphovorus. Therefore, strain YIM 45721T represents a novel species of the genus Microlunatus, for which the name Microlunatus aurantiacus sp. nov. is proposed. The type strain is YIM 45721T (=CCTCC AB 206067T=DSM 18424T).

A novel Gram-negative, facultatively anaerobic, non-sporulating, non-motile, catalase- and oxidase-positive, rod-shaped bacterium (strain JSM 061001^T) was isolated from a tidal flat in the South China Sea, China. Growth occurred with 0–5 % (w/v) NaCl [optimum, 0.5–1 % (w/v) NaCl], at pH 5.0–10.0 (optimum, pH 7.0) and at 4–35 °C (optimum, 25–30 °C). The major cellular fatty acids were C_16 : 0, cyclo C_17 : 0, C_18 : 1ω7c and C_16 : 1. Strain JSM 061001^T contained ubiquinone Q-8 as the predominant respiratory quinone, and phosphatidylglycerol, phosphatidylethanolamine and an unidentified phospholipid as the polar lipids. The genomic DNA G+C content was 65.5 mol%. Phylogenetic analysis based on 16S rRNA gene sequences indicated that strain JSM 061001^T belongs to the family Alcaligenaceae and was related most closely to the type strains of the two recognized species of the genus Pigmentiphaga. The three strains formed a robust cluster in the neighbour-joining, maximum-parsimony and maximum-likelihood phylogenetic trees. Levels of DNA–DNA relatedness between strain JSM 061001^T and the type strains of Pigmentiphaga daeguensis and Pigmentiphaga kullae were 15.8 and 10.5 %, respectively. The combination of phylogenetic analysis, DNA–DNA hybridization data, phenotypic characteristics and chemotaxonomic differences supported the view that strain JSM 061001^T represents a novel species of the genus Pigmentiphaga, for which the name Pigmentiphaga litoralis sp. nov. is proposed. The type strain is JSM 061001^T (=CCTCC AA207034^T=KCTC 22165^T).