Verrucosispora andamanensis sp. nov., isolated from a marine sponge.

An actinomycete strain, SP03-05(T), was isolated from a marine sponge sample (Xestospongia sp.) collected from Phuket Province of Thailand. The strain was aerobic, Gram-stain-positive and produced single spores at the tips of the substrate mycelium. Strain SP03-05(T) contained meso-diaminopimelic acid in the peptidoglycan; whole-cell sugars were arabinose, galactose, glucose, rhamnose, ribose and xylose. The polar lipid profile of strain SP03-05(T) consisted of phosphatidylethanolamine, diphosphatidylglycerol, phosphatidylinositol, phosphatidylinositol mannosides and unknown polar lipids. Morphological and chemotaxonomic characteristics of the strain identified it as a member of the family Micromonosporaceae. Phylogenetic analysis based on 16S rRNA gene sequences showed similarity of the strain to Verrucosispora lutea YIM 013(T) (96.90 %), Verrucosispora sediminis MS426(T) (96.90 %), Verrucosispora gifhornensis DSM 44337(T) (96.80 %), Verrucosispora maris AB-18-032(T) (96.80 %) and Verrucosispora qiuiae RtIII47(T) (95.40 %). The DNA G+C content was 72.4 mol%. The phenotypic, genotypic and DNA-DNA hybridization results supported the classification of this strain as a representative of a novel species in the genus Verrucosispora, for which the name Verrucosispora andamanensis sp. nov. is proposed. The type strain is SP03-05(T) ( = BCC 45620(T) = NBRC 109075(T)).