Saccharothrix deserti sp. nov., an actinomycete isolated from desert soil

Abstract

A Gram-stain-positive, aerobic actinomycete, designated strain BMP B8144^T, was isolated from desert soil, in Xinjiang province, northwest China. The isolate produced scanty aerial mycelium and fragmented substrate mycelium on most tested media. Cell-wall hydrolysates contained meso-diaminopimelic acid, galactose and mannose. The diagnostic phospholipids were diphosphatidylglycerol, phosphatidylethanolamine, phosphatidylhydroxylethanolamine, phosphatidylinositol, and phosphatidylinositol mannosides. The major fatty acids included iso-C_{16 : 0}, C_{17 : 1} ω8c and iso-C_{15 : 0}. The predominant menaquinones were MK-9(H₄) and MK-10(H₄). The DNA G+C content was 70.4 mol% (genome). Based on the 16S rRNA gene sequence analysis on EzBioCloud server, strain BMP B8144^T showed the closest similarities to Saccharothrix lopnurensis YIM LPA2h^T (98.9 %) and 'Saccharothrix yanglingensis' Hhs.015 (98.6 %). However, it can be distinguished from the closest strains based on the low levels of DNA-DNA relatedness (59.3±1.8 and 47.9±2.3 %, respectively). A combination of morphological, chemotaxonomic and phylogenetic characteristics, strain BMP B8144^T represents a novel species of the genus Saccharothrix, for which the name Saccharothrix deserti sp. nov. is proposed. The type strain is BMP B8144^T (=CGMCC 4.7490^T=KCTC 49001^T).

Keywords: Arid desert; Draft genome; Polyphasic taxonomy; Pseudonocardiaceae.