Streptacidiphilus hamsterleyensis sp. nov., isolated from a spruce forest soil.

Three acidophilic actinobacteria, isolates LSCA2, FGG8 and HSCA14(T), recovered from spruce litter were examined using a polyphasic approach. Chemotaxonomic and morphological properties of the isolates were found to be consistent with their classification in the genus Streptacidiphilus. The isolates were shown to have identical 16S rRNA gene sequences and were most closely related to Streptacidiphilus neutrinimicus DSM 41755(T) (99.9 % similarity). However, DNA:DNA relatedness between isolate HSCA14(T) and the type strain of S. neutrinimicus was found to be low at 44.0 (±14.1) %. A combination of phenotypic features, including degradative and nutritional characteristics were shown to distinguish the isolates from their nearest phylogenetic neighbours. Data from this study show that the isolates form a novel species in the genus for which the name S. hamsterleyensis sp. nov. is proposed. The type strain is HSCA 14(T) (=DSM 45900(T) = KACC 17456(T) = NCIMB 14865(T)).