Numerical Taxonomy of Moderately Halophilic Gram-negative Rods

A study was made of 516 randomly selected isolates of moderately halophilic bacteria from solar salterns showing salinities between 8·8 and 40·0% (w/v) total salts, located in S.E. Spain. After purification, many cytological, physiological, biochemical, nutritional and antibiotic sensitivity characters were determined for 106 selected saltern isolates and two reference strains. Data were coded and analysed by numerical techniques using the Jaccard coefficient (SJ ), and clusters of strains were obtained by average linkage (UPGMA) analysis. Nine major phenons were found at the 72·5% similarity level. The properties of each phenon are given, their taxonomic affinities are discussed, and typical reference strains are suggested. Almost all the strains were related to genera known to contain marine species. A large number of the strains could be tentatively assigned to the genus Vibrio, suggesting that this may be an abundant taxon of moderately halophilic Gram-negative rods in solar salterns.