Microbispora catharanthi sp. nov., a novel endophytic actinomycete isolated from the root of Catharanthus roseus

Strain CR1-09(T), an actinomycete isolated from the root of Catharanthus roseus, was taxonomically studied based upon polyphasic approaches. The isolate formed a pair of ovular to circular, smooth-surfaced spores on short sporophores alternately branched from aerial mycelia. It contained meso-diaminopimelic acid in cell wall peptidoglycans. The major menaquinones were MK-9 (H-4) and MK-9 (H-2). The predominant cellular fatty acids were iso-C-1(6:0) and C-16(:0). The polar lipids profile consisted of diphosphatidylglycerol, phosphatidylglycerol, phosphatidylethanolamine, hydroxyl phosphatidylethanolamine, phosphatidylinositol, phosphatidylinositol mannosides, and unidentified ninhydrin positive phosphoglycolipids. Strain CR1-09(T) showed the highest 16S rRNA gene sequence similarity with Microbispora tritici DSM 104650(T) (99.5%). Based on the polyphasic approach. DNA-DNA relatedness and average nucleotide identity (ANI), the strain is considered to represent a novel species of the genus Microbispora, for which the name Microbispora catharanthi is proposed. The type strain is strain CR1-09(T) (=JCM 30045(T)=TISTR 2273(T)).