Salinibacter ruber strain M31T, an extremely halophilic bacterium, was isolated from a saltern crystallizer pond in Spain. Single-molecule real-time sequencing revealed a 3.6-Mbp genome with a single 3.55-Mbp circular chromosome and a 35.5-kbp plasmid. The highly acidic proteome includes a total of 2,962 proteins, some of which are archaeal-like.

Besides an elevated intracellular concentration of KCl for osmotic balance, it also possesses rhodopsins for phototrophic energy production and displays a high degree of genome plasticity (4).

The gram-negative Salinibacter ruber strain M31T was isolated from a saltern crystallizer pond in Mallorca, Balearic Islands, Spain (GPS: 39.3499° N, 3.0110° E) on September 1999 and was a gift from the American Type Culture Collection (1). Salinibacter ruber M31T cultures were grown in ATCC 2402 medium (5). High-molecular weight genomic DNA was prepared by lysis and extraction with phenol:chloroform, followed by ethanol precipitation as described earlier (6).

Astrobiology,

Explorers Club Fellow, ex-NASA Space Station Payload manager/space biologist, Away Teams, Journalist, Lapsed climber, Synaesthete, Na’Vi-Jedi-Freman-Buddhist-mix, ASL, Devon Island and Everest Base Camp...