Pseudonocardia sichuanensis sp. nov., a novel endophytic actinomycete isolated from the root of Jatropha curcas L.

A novel isolate, designated strain KLBMP 1115T was isolated from the surface-sterilized root of oil-seed plant Jatropha curcas L. collected from Sichuan Province, south-west China. Characterization of the isolate was based on a polyphasic approach. 16S rRNA gene sequence analysis indicated that strain KLBMP 1115T belongs to the phylogenetic cluster of the genus Pseudonocardia and was most closely related to Pseudonocardia adelaidensis EUM 221T (98.9%) and Pseudonocardia zijingensis DSM 44774T (98.6%), whereas the DNA–DNA relatedness values between strain KLBMP 1115T and the two type strains were 47.3 and 39.7%, respectively. Levels of lower similarities to the type strains of other recognized Pseudonocardia species ranged from 94.4 to 98.4%. The diagnostic diamino acid in the cell-wall peptidoglycan was meso-diaminopimelic acid. The predominant respiratory quinone was MK-8(H4). The major fatty acids of strain KLBMP 1115T was iso-C16:0. The chemotaxonomic properties of strain KLBMP 1115T were consistent with those shared by members of the genus Pseudonocardia. On the basis of the phenotypic features and the DNA–DNA hybridization data, strain KLBMP 1115T represents a novel species of the genus Pseudonocardia, for which the name Pseudonocardiasichuanensis sp. nov. is proposed. The type strain is KLBMP 1115T (=KCTC 19781T = CCTCC AA 2010002T).