A novel actinomycete, designated strain OK19-0408T, was isolated from soil collected on Iheya island, Okinawa prefecture, Japan. Using the polyphasic taxonomic approach, comparing 16S rRNA gene sequences, the new isolate was found to be most closely related to Amycolatopsis vancoresmycina JCM12675T (98.71 %). Phylogenetic analyses using 16S rRNA sequences indicated that strain OK19-0408T was clustered with Amycolatopsis australiensis JCM15587T. However, digital DNA-DNA hybridization analyses indicated a low relatedness, in the range of 33.9-34.7 %, between strain OK19-0408T and these closely related strains. Strain OK19-0408T contained meso-diaminopimelic acid and whole-cell sugars consisting of arabinose and galactose. The acyl type of the peptidoglycan was acetyl and mycolic acids were absent in strain OK19-0408T. The major menaquinone was MK-9(H4) and hydroxy-phosphatidylethanolamine was detected as the predominant phospholipid. The predominant cellular fatty acid was iso-C16 : 0. The DNA G+C content of the genomic DNA was 71.5 mol%. Based on the polyphasic approach, strain OK19-0408T represents a novel species of the genus Amycolatopsis, for which the name Amycolatopsis iheyensis sp. nov. is proposed. The type strain of the type species is OK19-0408T (=NBRC115671T=TBRC16040T).
Keywords: Actinomycetes; Amycolatopsis iheyensis sp. nov; Family Pseudonocardiaceae.