title: Actinophytocola algeriensis sp. nov., an actinobacterium isolated from Saharan soil.
abstract: During our investigations of new actinobacterial taxa, a novel actinobacterial strain, designated MB20T, was isolated from a Saharan soil sample, collected in the Mzab region (Ghardaïa province, southern Algeria). In order to reveal its taxonomic position, the novel strain was characterized following a polyphasic taxonomic approach. It was noticed that strain MB20Tproduced white, branched and fragmented substrate mycelium with no aerial mycelium on most of the media tested. Chemotaxonomic and phylogenetic studies clearly demonstrated that strain MB20Tbelonged to the family Pseudonocardiaceae and was closely related to the genus Actinophytocola. Cell-wall hydrolysates contained meso-diaminopimelic acid but not glycine, and whole-cell hydrolysates contained galactose, glucose and ribose. The diagnostic phospholipid was phosphatidylethanolamine. Mycolic acids were not detected while the predominant fatty acid was found to be iso-branched hexadecanoate (iso-C16 : 0). The major menaquinone was MK-9(H4). Results of the 16S rRNA gene sequence comparison revealed that strain MB20Tshared the highest degree of similarity with Actinophytocola gilvus DSM 45828T(98.5 %), Actinophytocola corallina DSM 45659T(98.0 %) and Actinophytocola timorensis DSM 45660T(97.5 %). However, DNA-DNA hybridization studies showed only 32.9 % similarity with A. timorensis, 23.7 % similarity with A. gilvus and 17.9 % similarity with A. corallina. On the basis of phenotypic characteristics, 16S rRNA gene sequence comparisons and DNA-DNA hybridization, strain MB20Twas revealed to be a representative of a novel species of the genus Actinophytocola, for which the name Actinophytocola algeriensis sp. nov. (type strain MB20T=DSM 46746T=CECT 8960T) is proposed.
authors.affiliation: Laboratoire de Biologie des Systèmes Microbiens (LBSM), Ecole Normale Supérieure de Kouba, Alger, Algeria.
authors.forename: Khaoula
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Bouznada
authors.affiliation: Laboratoire de Biologie des Systèmes Microbiens (LBSM), Ecole Normale Supérieure de Kouba, Alger, Algeria.|Département de Biologie, Faculté des Sciences de la Nature et de la Vie et Sciences de la Terre, Université de Ghardaïa, BP 455, Ghardaïa 47000, Algeria.
authors.forename: Noureddine
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Bouras
authors.affiliation: DSMZ - German Collection of Microorganisms and Cell Cultures, Inhoffenstraße 7B, 38124 Braunschweig, Germany.
authors.forename: Peter
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Schumann
authors.affiliation: DSMZ - German Collection of Microorganisms and Cell Cultures, Inhoffenstraße 7B, 38124 Braunschweig, Germany.
authors.forename: Cathrin
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Spröer
authors.affiliation: Laboratoire de Biologie des Systèmes Microbiens (LBSM), Ecole Normale Supérieure de Kouba, Alger, Algeria.
authors.forename: Nasserdine
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Sabaou
authors.affiliation: School of Biology, Newcastle University, Ridley Building, Newcastle upon Tyne, NE1 7RU, UK.
authors.forename: Hans-Peter
authors.initials: HP
authors.lastname: Klenk
mesh_terms: D000192:Actinomycetales / Q000145:classification* / Q000235:genetics / Q000302:isolation & purification; D000352:Africa, Northern; D000462:Algeria; D015373:Bacterial Typing Techniques; D001482:Base Composition; D002473:Cell Wall / Q000737:chemistry; D004269:DNA, Bacterial / Q000235:genetics; D003960:Diaminopimelic Acid / Q000737:chemistry; D005227:Fatty Acids / Q000737:chemistry; D009693:Nucleic Acid Hybridization; D010743:Phospholipids / Q000737:chemistry; D010802:Phylogeny; D012336:RNA, Ribosomal, 16S / Q000235:genetics; D017422:Sequence Analysis, DNA; D012988:Soil Microbiology
chemical_list: D004269:DNA, Bacterial; D005227:Fatty Acids; D010743:Phospholipids; D012336:RNA, Ribosomal, 16S; D003960:Diaminopimelic Acid
keywords: Actinobacterium; Actinophytocola; Actinophytocola algeriensis sp. nov.; Polyphasic taxonomy; Saharan soil; bacterial diversity