Jatrophihabitans huperziae sp nov., an endophytic actinobacterium isolated from surface-sterilized tissue of the medicinal plant Huperzia serrata (Thunb.)

A novel endophytic actinobacterium, designated strain CPCC 204076(T), was isolated from surface-sterilized tissue of the medicinal plant Huperzia serrata (Thunb.) collected from Sichuan Province, south-west China. The taxonomic position of the isolate was investigated by a polyphasic approach. The strainwas aerobic, Gram-stain-positive, non-motile, non-spore-forming and rod-shaped. Growth was observed at 10-37 degrees C, at pH 5.0-10.0 and with 0-3.0% (w/v) NaCl. The polar lipid fraction consisted of diphosphatidylglycerol, a phospholipid, an aminolipid, a glycolipid, an aminophospholipid and phosphatidylinositol. The cell wall contained mesodiaminopimelic acid as the diagnostic diamino acid and the peptidoglycan was of type A4 gamma. The menaquinone system consisted of MK-9(H-4) and MK-8(H-4). The major cellular fatty acids (> 10 %) were iso-C-16:0 and anteiso-C-17 : 0. The genomic DNA G+ C content of strain CPCC 204076(T) was found to be 71.9 mol%. Phylogenetic analysis based on 16S rRNA gene sequences revealed that CPCC 204076(T) belongs to the genus Jatrophihabitans with highest sequence similarity to Jatrophihabitans endophyticus DSM 45627(T) (96.5 %), Jatrophihabitans soli DSM 45908(T) (96.5 %) and Jatrophihabitans fulvus JCM 30448(T) (96.1 %), and much lower similarities (< 95.0 %) to other available 16S rRNA gene sequences from validly described pure cultures. However, DNA-DNA hybridyzation values between strain CPCC 204076(T) and the three recognized Jatrophihabitans species were 31 +/- 3.1% (J. endophyticus DSM 45627(T)), 33 +/- 2.9% (J. soli DSM 45908(T)) and 37 +/- 1.7% (J. fulvus JCM 30448(T)), which were all far below the recommended cut-off value of 70 %. The phenotypic and genomic characteristics distinctly indicated that strain CPCC 204076(T) represents a novel species of the genus Jatrophihabitans, for which the name Jatrophihabitans huperziae sp. nov. is proposed. The type strain is CPCC 204076(T) (l13A-01604) (= DSM 46866(T) = NBRC 110718(T)).