Nocardioides hwasunensis sp nov.

Two novel actinomycete strains, designated HFW-18 and HFW-21(T), were isolated from a water sample around Hwasun Beach on the coast of Jeju Island, Republic of Korea. The cells of the organisms were aerobic, Gram-positive, non-motile rods. The temperature and initial pH ranges for growth were 4 - 37 degrees C and pH 5.1 - 9.1, respectively. They had LL-diaminopimelic acid in their cell-wall peptidoglycan, MK-8(H-4) as the major menaquinone and DNA G+C contents of 71.1 - 72.2 mol%. The cellular fatty acids consisted of straight-chain saturated, branched, monounsaturated and 10-methyl fatty acids, with a major component of iso-C-16:0. The polar lipids were diphosphatidylglycerol, phosphatidylglycerol, phosphatidylinositol and an unknown phospholipid. The isolates were identical in terms of their 16S rRNA gene sequences and BOX-PCR DNA fingerprints. Phylogenetic analyses based on 16S rRNA gene sequences showed that the isolates occupied distinct positions within the radiation of the genus Nocardioides. According to 16S rRNA gene sequence similarity, the closest relatives were Nocardioides ganghwensis JC2055(T) (97.4%), Nocardioides oleivorans DSM 16090(T) (97.3%) and Nocardioides furvisabuli SBS-26(T) (97.0%). Levels of 16S rRNA gene sequence similarity between the isolates and other members of the genus Nocardioides were in the range 91.8 - 95.3%. On the basis of the phenotypic and molecular genetic data presented here, the isolates represent members of a novel species of the genus Nocardioides. The name Nocardioides hwasunensis sp. nov. is proposed, and the type strain is HFW-21(T) (=KCTC 19197(T)=DSM 18584(T)).