Nocardiopsis quinghaiensis sp. nov., isolated from saline soil in China

A previously unknown Gram-positive, obligately aerobic actinomycete, YIM 28A4(T), was isolated from a sample of saline soil collected from the Qaidam Basin in Qinghai Province, north-west China, and was investigated using a polyphasic taxonomic approach. The strain grew well on most of the media tested, producing white to pale-yellow substrate mycelium, white aerial mycelium and straight to flexuous hyphae. The substrate mycelium was well developed and fragmented with age; the aerial mycelium produced long, straight spore chains. The spore chains were composed of non-motile, smooth-surfaced, rod-shaped spores. No diffusible pigments were produced on any of the media tested. The strain grew in the presence of 0-10 % (w/v) NaCl and at pH 6.0-8.0, with optimum growth occurring at 3 % (w/v) NaCl and pH 7.0. It grew at 10-37 degrees C, the optimum growth temperature being 28 degrees C. Whole-cell hydrolysates of strain YIM 28A4(T) contained meso-diaminopimelic acid and no diagnostic sugars. The predominant phospholipids were phosphatidylcholine, phosphatidylglycerol and diphosphatidylglycerol. The predominant menaquinones were MK-10, MK-10(H(2)), MK-11 and MK-11(H(2)). The major cellular fatty acids were iso-C(16 : 0), anteiso-C(15 : 0) and anteiso-C(17 : 0). The DNA G+C content was 67.1 mol%. The morphological and chemotaxonomic characteristics of the isolate matched those described for Nocardiopsis species. A phylogenetic analysis based on 16S rRNA gene sequence comparisons confirmed that strain YIM 28A4(T) was a member of the genus Nocardiopsis and most closely related to the type strains Nocardiopsis aegyptia DSM 44442(T) and Nocardiopsis halotolerans DSM 44410(T), showing 98.1 and 97.8 % 16S rRNA gene sequence similarity, respectively. Strain YIM 28A4(T) can be differentiated from these type strains by using phenotypic, phylogenetic and DNA-DNA hybridization data. On the basis of the polyphasic evidence, strain YIM 28A4(T) represents a novel species of the genus Nocardiopsis, for which the name Nocardiopsis quinghaiensis sp. nov. is proposed. The type strain is YIM 28A4(T) (=DSM 44739(T) =CGMCC 4.3494(T)).