title: Agrococcus versicolor sp. nov., an actinobacterium associated with the phyllosphere of potato plants.
abstract: The taxonomic position of a group of actinobacterial strains isolated from the phyllosphere of potato plants was investigated by using a polyphasic approach. Although the similarity values for their 16S rRNA gene sequences suggested an intermediate position between Microbacterium and Agrococcus, the phylogenetic tree demonstrated a clear clustering of the representative strain, K 114/01(T), within the genus Agrococcus. The presence of 2,4-diaminobutyric acid as the diagnostic diamino acid in the cell-wall peptidoglycan of strain K 114/01(T) substantiated the affiliation to the genus Agrococcus. An analysis performed using matrix-assisted laser desorption ionization-time-of-flight mass spectrometry revealed highly similar spectral patterns for the isolated strains, which, together with their conformity regarding a multitude of phenotypic features, supported their affiliation to the same species. Differences in several physiological features, peptidoglycan and menaquinone composition and whole-cell fatty acid profiles enabled discrimination of the phyllosphere isolates with respect to recognized Agrococcus species. As the 16S rRNA gene sequence similarity values were below 97 %, the strains isolated from the phyllosphere of potato plants represent a novel species of the genus Agrococcus, for which the name Agrococcus versicolor sp. nov. is proposed. The type strain is K 114/01(T) (=DSM 19812(T) =LMG 24386(T)).
authors.affiliation: Leibniz-Centre for Agricultural Landscape Research, ZALF, Institute of Landscape Matter Dynamics, Müncheberg, Germany. ubehrendt@zalf.de
authors.forename: Undine
authors.initials: U
authors.lastname: Behrendt
authors.forename: Peter
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Schumann
authors.forename: Andreas
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Ulrich
mesh_terms: D000192:Actinomycetales / Q000737:chemistry / Q000145:classification* / Q000235:genetics / Q000502:physiology*; D005227:Fatty Acids / Q000032:analysis; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D010641:Phenotype; D010802:Phylogeny; D012336:RNA, Ribosomal, 16S / Q000235:genetics; D011198:Solanum tuberosum / Q000382:microbiology*; D013045:Species Specificity
chemical_list: D005227:Fatty Acids; D012336:RNA, Ribosomal, 16S