Nocardia tenerifensis sp. nov.

A Gram-positive, non-spore-forming bacterium (GW39-1573(T)) was isolated from soil of the Spanish island of Tenerife. 16S rRNA gene sequence similarity studies showed that strain GW39-1573(T) belonged to the genus Nocardia and was most closely related to Nocardia brasiliensis (98.0 %), Nocardia beijingensis (97.3 %), Nocardia transvalensis (97.5 %), Nocardia asteroides (97.2 %) and Nocardia farcinica (97.0 %). Strain GW39-1573(T) could be distinguished from all other validly described Nocardia species by sequence similarity values of less than 97 %. Chemotaxonomic data [major menaquinone: MK-8(H(4, omega-cycl)); major polar lipids: diphosphatidylglycerol, phosphatidylglycerol, phosphatidylethanolamine, phosphatidylinositol, phosphatidylinositol mannoside and an unknown glycolipid and an unknown phospholipid; major fatty acids: C(16 : 0), C(18 : 1)omega9c and 10 methyl C(16 : 0)] and the presence of mycolic acids supported the affiliation of strain GW39-1573(T) to the genus NOCARDIA: The results of DNA-DNA hybridizations and physiological and biochemical tests allowed genotypic and phenotypic differentiation of strain GW39-1573(T) from those related species that showed 16S rRNA gene sequence similarity values of greater than 97 %. Strain GW39-1573(T) merits species status, and the name Nocardia tenerifensis is proposed with the type strain GW39-1573(T) (=DSM 44704(T)=CIP 107929(T)).