title: Classification of thermophilic actinobacteria isolated from arid desert soils, including the description of Amycolatopsis deserti sp. nov.
abstract: The taxonomic position of 26 filamentous actinobacteria isolated from a hyper-arid Atacama Desert soil and 2 from an arid Australian composite soil was established using a polyphasic approach. All of the isolates gave the diagnostic amplification product using 16S rRNA oligonucleotide primers specific for the genus Amycolatopsis. Representative isolates had chemotaxonomic and morphological properties typical of members of the genus Amycolatopsis. 16S rRNA gene analyses showed that all of the isolates belong to the Amycolatopsis methanolica 16S rRNA gene clade. The Atacama Desert isolates were assigned to one or other of two recognised species, namely Amycolatopsis ruanii and Amycolatopsis thermalba, based on 16S rRNA gene sequence, DNA:DNA relatedness and phenotypic data; emended descriptions are given for these species. In contrast, the two strains from the arid Australian composite soil, isolates GY024(T) and GY142, formed a distinct branch at the periphery of the A. methanolica 16S rRNA phyletic line, a taxon that was supported by all of the tree-making algorithms and by a 100 % bootstrap value. These strains shared a high degree of DNA:DNA relatedness and have many phenotypic properties in common, some of which distinguished them from all of the constituent species classified in the A. methanolica 16S rRNA clade. Isolates GY024(T) and GY142 merit recognition as a new species within the A. methanolica group of thermophilic strains. The name proposed for the new species is Amycolatopsis deserti sp. nov.; the type strain is GY024(T) (=NCIMB 14972(T) = NRRL B-65266(T)).
authors.affiliation: School of Biology, Newcastle University, Newcastle upon Tyne, NE1 7RU, UK.|Department of Agricultural Technology, Thailand Institute of Scientific and Technological Research, Pathum Thani, 12120, Thailand.
authors.forename: Kanungnid
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Busarakam
authors.affiliation: School of Biology, Newcastle University, Newcastle upon Tyne, NE1 7RU, UK.
authors.forename: Ros
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Brown
authors.affiliation: School of Biosciences, University of Kent, Canterbury, CT2 7NJ, UK.
authors.forename: Alan T
authors.initials: AT
authors.lastname: Bull
authors.affiliation: Institute of Biological Sciences, University of Malaya, 50603, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
authors.forename: Geok Yuan Annie
authors.initials: GY
authors.lastname: Tan
authors.affiliation: Laboratório de Microbiologia, EMBRAPA Meio Ambiente, Rod SP 340-Km 127, PO Box 69, Jaguariúna, 13820-000, Brazil.|Agrivalle, Av. Tranquillo Giannini, 1050, Salto, 13329-600, Brazil.
authors.forename: Tiago D
authors.initials: TD
authors.lastname: Zucchi
authors.affiliation: Laboratório de Microbiologia, EMBRAPA Meio Ambiente, Rod SP 340-Km 127, PO Box 69, Jaguariúna, 13820-000, Brazil.
authors.forename: Leonardo José
authors.initials: LJ
authors.lastname: da Silva
authors.affiliation: Laboratório de Microbiologia, EMBRAPA Meio Ambiente, Rod SP 340-Km 127, PO Box 69, Jaguariúna, 13820-000, Brazil.
authors.forename: Wallace Rafael
authors.initials: WR
authors.lastname: de Souza
authors.affiliation: School of Biology, Newcastle University, Newcastle upon Tyne, NE1 7RU, UK. m.goodfellow@ncl.ac.uk.
authors.forename: Michael
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Goodfellow
mesh_terms: D000192:Actinomycetales / Q000145:classification / Q000235:genetics / Q000302:isolation & purification* / Q000378:metabolism; D001315:Australia; D004269:DNA, Bacterial / Q000235:genetics; D004275:DNA, Ribosomal / Q000235:genetics; D003889:Desert Climate; D006358:Hot Temperature; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D010802:Phylogeny; D012336:RNA, Ribosomal, 16S / Q000235:genetics; D012987:Soil / Q000737:chemistry; D012988:Soil Microbiology
chemical_list: D004269:DNA, Bacterial; D004275:DNA, Ribosomal; D012336:RNA, Ribosomal, 16S; D012987:Soil
keywords: Amycolatopsis; Desert soils; Polyphasic taxonomy