''Halomonas'' is a genus of
halophilic
A halophile (from the Greek word for 'salt-loving') is an extremophile that thrives in high salt concentrations. In chemical terms, halophile refers to a Lewis acidic species that has some ability to extract halides from other chemical species.
...
(salt-tolerating)
bacteria
Bacteria (; : bacterium) are ubiquitous, mostly free-living organisms often consisting of one Cell (biology), biological cell. They constitute a large domain (biology), domain of Prokaryote, prokaryotic microorganisms. Typically a few micr ...
. It grows over the range of 5 to 25%
NaCl
Sodium chloride , commonly known as edible salt, is an ionic compound with the chemical formula NaCl, representing a 1:1 ratio of sodium and chloride ions. It is transparent or translucent, brittle, hygroscopic, and occurs as the mineral hali ...
.
The type species of this genus is ''
Halomonas elongata''.
Description
Members of ''Halomonas'' are
Gram-negative
Gram-negative bacteria are bacteria that, unlike gram-positive bacteria, do not retain the crystal violet stain used in the Gram staining method of bacterial differentiation. Their defining characteristic is that their cell envelope consists ...
,
rod-shaped
Bacterial cellular morphologies are the shapes that are characteristic of various types of bacteria and often key to their identification. Their direct examination under a light microscope enables the classification of these bacteria (and archae ...
bacteria, generally 0.6-0.8
μm by 1.6-1.9 μm.
They move by using
flagella
A flagellum (; : flagella) (Latin for 'whip' or 'scourge') is a hair-like appendage that protrudes from certain plant and animal sperm cells, from fungal spores ( zoospores), and from a wide range of microorganisms to provide motility. Many pr ...
. They grow in the presence of oxygen, although some have been reported to be able to grow without oxygen. When grown on an
agar plate
An agar plate is a Petri dish that contains a growth medium solidified with agar, used to Microbiological culture, culture microorganisms. Sometimes selective compounds are added to influence growth, such as antibiotics.
Individual microorganism ...
, they form white/yellow colonies that turn light brown over time.
[
]
Ecology
''Halomonas'' species have been found in a broad variety of saline environments, including estuaries, the ocean, and saline lakes.[
]
Species
Many species of ''Halomonas'' have been described:
'' H. alimentaria''
'' H. alkaliantarctica''
'' H. alkaliphila''
'' H. almeriensis''
'' H. andesensis''
'' H. anticariensis''
'' H. aquamarina''
'' H. arcis''
'' H. axialensis''
'' H. beimenensis''
'' H. boliviensis''
'' H. campaniensis''
'' H. campisalis''
'' H. caseinilytica''
'' H. cerina''
'' H. cibimaris''
'' H. cupida''
'' H. daqiaonensis''
'' H. daqingensis''
'' H. denitrificans''
'' H. desiderata''
'' H. elongata''
'' H. eurihalina''
'' H. flava''
'' H. fontilapidosi''
'' H. garicola''
'' H. gomseomensis''
'' H. gudaonensis''
'' H. halmophila''
'' H. halocynthiae''
'' H. halodenitrificans''
'' H. halophila''
'' H. hamiltonii''
'' H. heilongjiangensis''
'' H. huangheensis''
'' H. hydrothermalis''
'' H. ilicicola''
'' H. janggokensis''
'' H. jeotgali''
'' H. johnsoniae''
'' H. kenyensis''
'' H. koreensis''
'' H. korlensis''
'' H. kribbensis''
'' H. lutea''
'' H. lutescence''
'' H. magadiensis''
'' H. maura''
'' H. meridiana''
'' H. mongoliensis''
'' H. muralis''
'' H. nanhaiensis''
'' H. neptunia''
'' H. nitroreducens''
'' H. olivaria''
'' H. organivorans''
'' H. pacifica''
'' H. pantelleriensis''
'' H. qiaohouensis''
'' H. qijiaojingensis''
'' H. ramblicola''
'' H. rifensis''
'' H. sabkhae''
'' H. saccharevitans''
'' H. salicampi''
'' H. salifodinae''
'' H. salina''
'' H. sediminicola''
'' H. shengliensis''
'' H. sinaiensis''
'' H. smyrnensis''
'' H. songnenensis''
'' H. stenophila''
'' H. stevensii''
'' H. subglaciescola''
'' H. subterranea''
'' H. sulfidaeris''
'' H. taeanensis''
'' H. titanicae''
'' H. urumqiensis''
'' H. variabilis''
'' H. ventosae''
'' H. venusta''
'' H. vilamensis''
'' H. xianhensis''
'' H. xinjiangensis''
'' H. zhangjiangensis''
'' H. zincidurans''
Pathogenic potential
Certain species of ''Halomonas ''may display pathogen
In biology, a pathogen (, "suffering", "passion" and , "producer of"), in the oldest and broadest sense, is any organism or agent that can produce disease. A pathogen may also be referred to as an infectious agent, or simply a Germ theory of d ...
ic potential in humans. In one study, three species were isolated from two patients suffering bacteremia
Bloodstream infections (BSIs) are infections of blood caused by blood-borne pathogens. The detection of microbes in the blood (most commonly accomplished by blood cultures) is always abnormal. A bloodstream infection is different from sepsis, wh ...
in a dialysis center. The study hypothesized that the bicarbonate
In inorganic chemistry, bicarbonate (IUPAC-recommended nomenclature: hydrogencarbonate) is an intermediate form in the deprotonation of carbonic acid. It is a polyatomic anion with the chemical formula .
Bicarbonate serves a crucial bioche ...
used in the dialysis fluid may have been contaminated by the bacteria.
Health
Halomonas sp. KM-1 is used for industrial production of β-hydroxybutyric acid (BHB).
Etymology
The name ''Halomonas'' derives from: Greek
Greek may refer to:
Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe:
*Greeks, an ethnic group
*Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family
**Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor of all kno ...
noun ''hals, halos'' (ἅλς, ἁλός), salt; and ''monas'' (μονάς), nominally meaning "a unit", but in effect meaning a bacterium; thus, salt (-tolerant) monad.
References
{{Taxonbar, from=Q390336
Oceanospirillales
Psychrophiles
Bacteria genera