Saccharothrix violaceirubra sp nov., isolated from soil and plant litter

Two strains of nocardioform actinomycetes, isolated from soil and plant litter in Yamanashi prefecture, Japan, showed substrate mycelium with purple to dark-red colours. 16S rRNA gene sequence analysis indicated that the organisms belonged to the family Actinosynnemataceae and were related closely to Saccharothrix strains (96.7-98.0% sequence similarity). The isolates contained MK-9(H(4)) as the predominant menaquinone, meso-diaminopimelic acid, galactose as the diagnostic whole-cell sugar and phosphatidylethanolamine as the predominant polar lipid. Based on a combination of cultural, physiological and chemotaxonomic properties, in addition to the phylogenetic analysis and DNA-DNA hybridization data, we propose a novel species, Saccharothrix violaceirubra sp. nov., for these strains, with the type strain YU 692-1(T) (=NBRC 102064(T) =KCTC 19326(T)).