AUTHOR=Galisteo Cristina , de la Haba Rafael R. , Sánchez-Porro Cristina , Ventosa Antonio 

TITLE=Biotin pathway in novel Fodinibius salsisoli sp. nov., isolated from hypersaline soils and reclassification of the genus Aliifodinibius as Fodinibius

JOURNAL=Frontiers in Microbiology

VOLUME=13

YEAR=2023

URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/microbiology/articles/10.3389/fmicb.2022.1101464

DOI=10.3389/fmicb.2022.1101464

ISSN=1664-302X

ABSTRACT=<p>Hypersaline soils are extreme environments that have received little attention until the last few years. Their halophilic prokaryotic population seems to be more diverse than those of well-known aquatic systems. Among those inhabitants, representatives of the family <italic>Balneolaceae</italic> (phylum <italic>Balneolota</italic>) have been described to be abundant, but very few members have been isolated and characterized to date. This family comprises the genera <italic>Aliifodinibius</italic> and <italic>Fodinibius</italic> along with four others. A novel strain, designated 1BSP15-2V2<sup>T</sup>, has been isolated from hypersaline soils located in the Odiel Saltmarshes Natural Area (Southwest Spain), which appears to represent a new species related to the genus <italic>Aliifodinibius</italic>. However, comparative genomic analyses of members of the family <italic>Balneolaceae</italic> have revealed that the genera <italic>Aliifodinibius</italic> and <italic>Fodinibius</italic> belong to a single genus, hence we propose the reclassification of the species of the genus <italic>Aliifodinibius</italic> into the genus <italic>Fodinibius,</italic> which was first described. The novel strain is thus described as <italic>Fodinibius salsisoli</italic> sp. nov., with 1BSP15-2V2<sup>T</sup> (=CCM 9117<sup>T</sup> = CECT 30246<sup>T</sup>) as the designated type strain. This species and other closely related ones show abundant genomic recruitment within 80–90% identity range when searched against several hypersaline soil metagenomic databases investigated. This might suggest that there are still uncultured, yet abundant closely related representatives to this family present in these environments. In-depth <italic>in-silico</italic> analysis of the metabolism of <italic>Fodinibius</italic> showed that the biotin biosynthesis pathway was present in the genomes of strain 1BSP15-2V2<sup>T</sup> and other species of the family <italic>Balneolaceae</italic>, which could entail major implications in their community role providing this vitamin to other organisms that depend on an exogenous source of this nutrient.</p>