Strain TÜ4103T was originally sampled from Java, Indonesia and deposited in the Tübingen strain collection under the name 'Streptomyces sp.'. The strain was found to be an antibiotic producer as strain TÜ4103T showed bioactivity against Gram-positive bacteria, such as Bacillus subtilis and Kocuria rhizophila in bioassays. Strain TÜ4103T showed 16S rRNA gene sequence similarity of 99.65 % to Kitasatospora cheerisanensis DSM 101999T and 98.82 % to Kitasatospora niigatensis DSM 44781T and Kitasatospora cineracea DSM 44780T. Genome-based phylogenetic analysis revealed that strain TÜ4103T is closely related to K. cineracea DSM 44780T and K. niigatensis DSM 44781T. The digital DNA-DNA hybridization values between the genome sequences of strain TÜ4103T and its closest phylogenomic relatives, strains DSM 44780T and DSM 44781T, were 43.0 and 42.9 %, respectively. Average nucleotide identity (ANI) values support this claim, with the highest ANI score of 91.14 % between TÜ4103T and K. niigatensis being closely followed by an ANI value of 91.10 % between K. cineracea and TÜ4103T. The genome of TÜ4103T has a size of 7.91 Mb with a G+C content of 74.05 mol%. Whole-cell hydrolysates of strain TÜ4103T are rich in meso-diaminopimelic acid, and rhamnose, galactose and mannose are characteristic as whole-cell sugars. The phospholipid profile contains phosphatidylethanolamine, diphosphatidylglycerol and glycophospholipid. The predominant menaquinones (>93.5 %) are MK-9(H8) and MK-9(H6). Based on the phenotypic, genotypic and genomic characteristics, strain TÜ4103T (=DSM 114396T=CECT 30712T) merits recognition as the type strain of a novel species of the genus Kitasatospora, for which the name Kitasatospora fiedleri sp. nov. is proposed.
Keywords: Kitasatospora; antibiotic producer; novel species; polyphasic taxonomy; rare actinomycete.