An endophytic actinobacterial strain was isolated from a yellowwood tree growing on the slope of Devil's Peak, Cape Town, South Africa. Analysis of the 16S rRNA gene showed that the strain belongs to the genus Kribbella. Phylogenetic analyses using the 16S rRNA gene and multilocus sequence analysis using the concatenated gene sequences of the gyrB, rpoB, relA, recA and atpD genes showed that strain YPL1T is closely related to the type strains of Kribbella karoonensis and Kribbella shirazensis. DDH experiments showed that strain YPL1T is a distinct genomic species from its close phylogenetic relative, K. karoonensis Q41T. Physiological comparisons further showed that strain YPL1T is phenotypically distinct from the type strains of Kribbella jejuensis, Kribbella aluminosa, K. karoonensis, K. shirazensis and Kribbella swartbergensis. Strain YPL1T is thus presented as the type strain of a novel species, for which the name Kribbella podocarpi sp. nov. (= DSM 29424T = NRRL B-65063T), is proposed.
Keywords: Endophyte; Family Nocardioidaceae; Multilocus sequence analysis.