S Irannejad
A Akhavan Sepahi
M. A Amoozegar
A Tukmechi
A.A Motallebi Moghanjoghi

Halophiles are in all three domains of life: Archaea, Bacteria and Eucarya. Halophilic microorganisms in addition to form major part of life biodiversity can have many biotechnological applications. The objective of this research is isolation and identification of halophilic bacteria from Urmia Lake in Iran and the study of its bacterial biodiversity. After sampling of brines from Urmia Lake from ۱۰ stations and depth of approximately ۳۰-۵۰ cm, in April ۲۰۱۱ and transfer to the laboratory in the sterile conditions, samples were enriched and cultured on defined media, and incubated. After appearance of colonies, selected strains were studied based on morphology, physiology and biochemical characteristics. For phylogenetic identification, their genomic DNA were extracted and amplified by PCR technique. Therefore their sequences were determined by genetic experiment based on ۱۶S rRNA gene sequence and their similarity were analysed in GenBank of EzTaxon database. Finally the phylogenetic tree was constructed. Studied strains belonged to three genera: Halomonas ۵۰% (including H. andesensis LC۶(T) [۱۲.۵%], H. gomseomensis M۱۲(T) [۱۲.۵%], H. hydrothermalis Slthf۲(T) [۱۲.۵%], H. boliviensis LC۱(T) [۶.۲۵%] and H. janggokensis M۲۴(T) [۶.۲۵%]), Salinivibrio ۲۵% (including S.costicolasubsp. alcaliphilus DSM ۱۶۳۵۹(T) [۱۸.۷۵%] and S. sharmensis BAG(T) [۶.۲۵%]) and Idiomarina ۲۵% (including I .loihiensis L۲TR(T) [۲۵%]).

Halophilic bacteria, Species diversity, Isolation, Phylogenetic, DNA analysis, Urmia Lake