Blastococcus xanthinilyticus sp. nov., isolated from monument

A novel, non-motile, coccoid, Gram-stain-positive actinobacterium, designated BMG 862 T , was isolated from a marble sample collected from the Bulla Regia monument, Northern Tunisia. Its taxonomic position was determined using a polyphasic approach. Results from chemotaxonomic analyses showed MK-9(H4), MK-8(H4) and MK-9(H2) as the predominant menaquinones. The major polar lipids comprised diphosphatidylglycerol, phosphatidylcholine, phosphatidylethanolamine, phosphatidylinositol, glycophosphatidylinositol, hydroxy-phosphatidylethanolamine and three unidentified phospholipids. The fatty acids consisted of significant amounts (≥10 %) of iso-C16 : 0, C17 : 1ω8c, iso-C15 : 0 and C16 : 1ω7c. Phylogenetic analysis on the basis of 16S rRNA gene sequence comparisons showed that strain BMG 862 T belongs to the genus Blastococcus, being most closely related to Blastococcus saxobsidens (=DSM 44509 T ) (99.5 %) and Blastococcus capsensis (=DSM 46835 T =CECT 8876 T ) (99.3 %). The genomic DNA G+C content of the organism was 74.7 mol%. Results of DNA-DNA hybridization and physiological tests allowed differentiation of strain BMG 862 T from related species. The strain was also characterized by its ability to hydrolyse xanthine. On the basis of phenotypic and molecular characteristics, strain BMG 862 T (=DSM 46842 T =CECT 8884 T ) represents the type strain of a novel species of the genus Blastococcus, for which the name Blastococcus xanthinilyticus sp. nov. is proposed.