title: Amycolatopsis nigrescens sp. nov., an actinomycete isolated from a Roman catacomb.
abstract: The taxonomic status of two actinomycetes isolated from the wall of a hypogean Roman catacomb was established based on a polyphasic investigation. The organisms were found to have chemical and morphological markers typical of members of the genus Amycolatopsis. They also shared a range of chemical, molecular and phenotypic markers which served to separate them from representatives of recognized Amycolatopsis species. The new isolates formed a branch in the Amycolatopsis 16S rRNA gene sequence tree with Amycolatopsis minnesotensis NRRL B-24435(T), but this association was not supported by a particularly high bootstrap value or by the product of the maximum-parsimony tree-making algorithm. The organisms were distinguished readily from closely related Amycolatopsis species based on a combination of phenotypic properties and from all Amycolatopsis strains by their characteristic menaquinone profiles, in which tetra-hydrogenated menaquinones with 11 isoprene units predominated. The combined genotypic and phenotypic data indicate that the isolates merit recognition as representing a novel species of the genus Amycolatopsis. The name proposed for this novel species is Amycolatopsis nigrescens sp. nov., with type strain CSC17Ta-90(T) (=HKI 0330(T)=DSM 44992(T)=NRRL B-24473(T)).
authors.affiliation: Leibniz-Institut für Naturstoff-Forschung und Infektionsbiologie e.V., Hans-Knöll-Institut, Beutenbergstrasse 11a, 07745 Jena, Germany.
authors.forename: Ingrid
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Groth
authors.affiliation: Institute of Biological Sciences (Microbiology), Faculty of Science, University of Malaya, 50603 Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
authors.forename: Geok Yuan Annie
authors.initials: GYA
authors.lastname: Tan
authors.affiliation: Instituto de Recursos Naturales y Agrobiologia, CSIC, Apartado 1052, 41080 Sevilla, Spain.
authors.forename: Juan M
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: González
authors.affiliation: Instituto de Recursos Naturales y Agrobiologia, CSIC, Apartado 1052, 41080 Sevilla, Spain.
authors.forename: Leonila
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Laiz
authors.affiliation: Leibniz-Institut für Naturstoff-Forschung und Infektionsbiologie e.V., Hans-Knöll-Institut, Beutenbergstrasse 11a, 07745 Jena, Germany.
authors.forename: Marc René
authors.initials: MR
authors.lastname: Carlsohn
authors.affiliation: Leibniz-Institut für Naturstoff-Forschung und Infektionsbiologie e.V., Hans-Knöll-Institut, Beutenbergstrasse 11a, 07745 Jena, Germany.
authors.forename: Barbara
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Schütze
authors.affiliation: Sanofi-Aventis Deutschland GmbH, Industriepark Hoechst, 65926 Frankfurt (Main), Germany.
authors.forename: Joachim
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Wink
authors.affiliation: Division of Biology, University of Newcastle, Newcastle upon Tyne NE1 7RU, UK.
authors.forename: Michael
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Goodfellow
mesh_terms: D000192:Actinomycetales / Q000145:classification* / Q000235:genetics / Q000302:isolation & purification; D002048:Burial; D004269:DNA, Bacterial / Q000235:genetics; D004275:DNA, Ribosomal / Q000235:genetics; D005838:Genotype; D006801:Humans; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D010641:Phenotype; D010802:Phylogeny; D012336:RNA, Ribosomal, 16S / Q000235:genetics; D018644:Roman World
chemical_list: D004269:DNA, Bacterial; D004275:DNA, Ribosomal; D012336:RNA, Ribosomal, 16S