| Haloferax |
| SuperSet | Prokaryote, Archaea, Halophilic Archaeobacteria |
| Compare | Haloarcula , Halobacterium, Halococcus , Haloferax ,Natronobacterium , Natronococcus occultus |
| Contrast | Methanogens Cell Wall-Less Archaeobacteria Sulfate Reducing Archaeobacteria Halophilic Archaeobacteria Extremely Thermophilic Archaeobacteria |
| Subset |
| Morphology | Haloferax |
| CELLULAR |
| Staining | Gram-negative |
| Morphology | extremely pleomorphic, most commonly flattened disks or cups (1-3 x 2-3 um)..... |
| Motility | Motile, (often difficult to observe) |
| Specialized structures | One species is gas-vacuolate Resting stages are not known |
| Division |
| COLONIAL |
| Solid surface | Colonies have a mucoid appearance.. |
| Liquid |
| Growth Parameters | Haloferax |
| PHYSIOLOGICAL |
| Tropism | Chemoorganotrophic utilizing many substrates as sources of carbon and energy. |
| Oxygen | Strictly aerobic. Oxidase- and catalase-positive |
| pH | |
| Temperature | Temperature range for growth: 30-55`C; optimum temperature: about 35`C. |
| Requires | Extremely halophilic, with growth occurring in media containing 1.5-4.5 M Na+; optimum concentration: 2.5 M Na+. requires 0.02 M. Mg2+ Amino acids are not required.. |
| Produces | Polyhydroxybutyrate is accumulated under certain conditions. Acid is produced from sugars |
| Enzymes | |
| Unique features | The polar lipids are characterized by the presence of C20,C20 derivatives of S-DGD-1and the absence of PGS |
| ENVIRONMENTAL |
| Habitat | |
| Lifestyle | |
| Pathogenicity |
| Distribution |
| Genome | Haloferax |
| G+C Mol % | 59.5-64.0 (Bd) A minor DNA component may be present. |
| Reference | Haloferax |
| First citation | Torreblanca, M.F., F. Rodriguez-Valera, G. Juez, A. Ventosa, M. Kamekura and M. Kates. 1986. Classification of non-alkaliphilic halobacteria based on numerical taxonomy and polar lipid composition and description of Haloarcula gen. nov. and Haloferax gen. nov. Syst Appl. Microbiol 8: 89-99. |
| The Prokaryotes | |
| Bergey's Systematatic | p 2226 Wm. D. Grant and H. Larsen |
| Bergey's Determinative | p 743 |
| References |