Salinispora is a genus of obligately aerobic, gram-positive, non-acid-fast bacteria belonging to the family of Micromonosporaceae. They are heterotrophic, non-motile, and obligately grow under high osmotic/ionic-strength conditions.[2][3][4] They are the first identified genus of gram-positive bacteria which has a high osmotic/ionic-strength requirement for survival.[2] They are widely abundant in tropical marine sediments and were first identified in 2002.[2] This genus of bacteria has potential biotechnological significance due to their production of novel secondary metabolites which can be used pharmaceutically.[5]
There are nine known species that fall within the genus of Salinispora including the better studied S. arenicola, S. tropica, and S. pacifica.[6][7] The clade that initially comprised only S. pacifica was further interrogated through comparative genomic analyses in 2020 to reveal six additional species.[6] The differentiation of these species is likely the result of niche differentiation rather than allopatric speciation due to the species co-occurrence.[8] Despite there being high sequence similarity among Salinispora genomes (>99% 16S rRNA sequence identity), species- and strain-based differences among biosynthetic gene clusters and products have been determined.[9][10]
^"Genus Salinispora". List of Prokaryotic names with Standing in Nomenclature (LPSN). Leibniz Institute DSMZ-German Collection of Microorganisms and Cell Cultures GmbH.