Nocardiopsis akebiae sp. nov., a novel endophytic actinomycete isolated from fruits of Akebia trifoliata.

Abstract

A novel actinobacterium, designated strain HDS12T, was isolated from fruits collected from Changde city located in the northwest of Hunan Province, China and characterized using a polyphasic approach. The 16S rRNA gene sequence analysis indicated that strain HDS12T belonged to the genus Nocardiopsis, and had highest similarities to N. dassonvillei subsp. dassonvillei CGMCC 4.1231T (99.79%), N. deserti H13T (99.73%), N. alborubida NBRC 13392T (99.66%), N. dassonvillei subsp. crassaminis D1T (99.64%), N. synnemataformans DSM 44143T (99.45%), N. lucentensis DSM 44048T (99.04%), N. aegyptia DSM 44442T (98.90%), N. flavescens CGMCC 4.5723T (98.76%), N. alba DSM 43377T (98.69%) and N. halotolerans DSM 44410T (98.63%), respectively. Phylogenetic analysis based on 16S rRNA gene sequence showed that strain HDS12T formed an independent subclade, suggesting that strain HDS12T could belong to a potential novel species. Phylogenomic analysis demonstrated that strain HDS12T was closely related to N. dassonvillei subsp. dassonvillei CGMCC 4.1231T and N. dassonvillei subsp. crassaminis D1T. However, the average nucleotide identity value and the digital DNA-DNA hybridization value between them were well below 95-96% and 70% cut-off point recommended for delineating species. Based on its phenotypic and chemotaxonomic characteristics, strain HDS12T (= MCCC 1K06173T = JCM 34708T) represents the type strain of a novel species, for which the name Nocardiopsis akebiae sp. nov. is proposed.