Kocuria aegyptia sp. nov., a novel actinobacterium isolated from a saline, alkaline desert soil in Egypt.

A coccoid, non-motile actinobacterium, designated strain YIM 70003T, was isolated from a saline, alkaline, desert-soil sample from Egypt. Phylogenetic analysis based on 16S rRNA gene sequences revealed that the organism formed a distinct phyletic line within the genus Kocuria and was most closely related to Kocuria polaris DSM 14382T (98.6 % sequence similarity) and Kocuria rosea DSM 20447T (98.2 %). Chemotaxonomic data, including the Lys-Ala3 peptidoglycan type, the presence of phosphatidylglycerol and diphosphatidylglycerol as the predominant phospholipids, the presence of MK-8(H2) and MK-9(H2) as the major menaquinones, the predominance of fatty acids ai-C(15 : 0) and i-C(15 : 0) and the DNA G+C content, also supported the affiliation of the isolate to the genus Kocuria. The low DNA-DNA relatedness with K. polaris DSM 14382T (56.6 %) and K. rosea DSM 20447T (15.5 %) in combination with phenotypic data show that strain YIM 70003T should be classified as a novel species of the genus Kocuria. The name Kocuria aegyptia sp. nov. is proposed, with strain YIM 70003T (=CCTCC AA203006T = CIP 107966T = KCTC 19010T = DSM 17006T) as the type strain.