A novel Streptomyces strain, SUN51T, was isolated from soils sampled in Wisconsin, USA, as part of a Streptomyces biogeography survey. Genome sequencing revealed that this strain had less than 90 % average nucleotide identity (ANI) to type species of Streptomyces: SUN51T was most closely related to Streptomyces dioscori A217T (99.5 % 16S rRNA gene identity, 89.4 % ANI). Genome size was estimated at 8.81 Mb, and the genome DNA G+C content was 72 mol%. The strain possessed the cellular fatty acids anteiso-C15 : 0, iso-C16 : 0, 16 : 1 ω7c, anteiso-C17 : 0, iso-C14 : 0 and C16 : 0. The predominant menaquinones were MK-9 H4, MK-9 H6 and MK-9 H8. Strain SUN51T contained the polar lipids phosphatidic acid, phosphatidyl ethanolamine, phosphatidyl glycerol and diphosphatidyl glycerol. The cell wall contained ll-diaminopimelic acid. The strain could grow on a broad range of carbon sources and tolerate temperatures of up to 40 °C. The results of the polyphasic study confirmed that this isolate represents a novel species of the genus Streptomyces, for which the name Streptomyces apricus sp. nov. is proposed. The type strain of this species is SUN51T (=NRRL B-65543T=JCM 33736T).
Keywords: Streptomyces; apricus; soil; species description.