Lechevalieria rhizosphaerae sp. nov., a novel actinomycete isolated from rhizosphere soil of wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) and emended description of the genus Lechevalieria.

A novel actinomycete, designated strain NEAU-A2, was isolated from rhizosphere soil of wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) and characterized using a polyphasic approach. Phylogenetic analysis based on 16S rRNA gene sequences indicated that strain NEAU-A2 should be assigned to the genus Lechevalieria and forms a distinct branch with its closest neighbour Lechevalieria aerocolonigenes DSM 40034 (99.0 %). Moreover, key morphological and chemotaxonomic properties also confirmed the affiliation of strain NEAU-A2 to the genus Lechevalieria. The cell wall contained meso-diaminopimelic acid and the whole-cell hydrolysates were galactose, mannose, rhamnose, glucose and ribose. The polar lipids were diphosphatidylglycerol, phosphatidylmethylethanolamine, phosphatidylethanolamine, phosphatidylinositolmannoside and two glycolipids. The predominant menaquinones were MK-9(H4) and MK-9(H6). The major fatty acids were iso-C16 : 0, anteiso-C15 : 0, C16 : 1ω7c and anteiso-C17 : 0. The DNA G+C content was 68.2 mol%. The combination of the DNA-DNA hybridization result and some phenotypic characteristics demonstrated that strain NEAU-A2 could be distinguished from its closest relative. Therefore, it is proposed that strain NEAU-A2 represents a novel species of the genus Lechevalieria, for which the name Lechevalieriarhizosphaerae sp. nov. is proposed. The type strain is NEAU-A2 (=CGMCC 4.7405=DSM 104541).