Amycolatopsis cihanbeyliensis sp nov., a halotolerant actinomycete isolated from a salt mine

A novel halotolerant actinomycete, designated strain BNT52(T), was isolated from soil collected from Cihanbeyli Salt Mine in the central Anatolia region of Turkey, and examined using a polyphasic taxonomic approach. The isolate was found to have chemical and morphological properties typical of the genus Amycolatopsis and formed a distinct phyletic line in the 16S rRNA gene tree. Strain BNT52(T) was most closely related to Amycolatopsis nigrescens CSC17Ta-90(T) (96.7%), Amycolatopsis magusensis KT-2025(T) (96.6 %), Amycolatopsis sulphurea DSM 46092(T) (96.6 %), Amycolatopsis dongchuanensis YIM 75904(T) (96.5 %), Amycolatopsis ultiminotia RP-AC36(T) (96.4%) and Amycolatopsis sacchari DSM 44468(T) (96.4%). Sequence similarities with other strains of species of the genus Amycolatopsis were lower than 96.2%. The isolate grew at 20-37 degrees C, pH 6-12 and in the presence of 0-10% (w/v) NaCl. The cell wall of the novel strain contained meso-diaminopimelic acid and arabinose and galactose as the diagnostic sugars. Major fatty acids were iso-C-16:0 2-OH and iso-C-16:0. The predominant menaquinone was MK-9(H-4). The polar lipids detected were diphosphatidylglycerol, phosphatidylethanolamine, phosphatidylinositol and phosphatidylmethylethanolamine. The genomic DNA G+C content was 68.8 mol%. On the basis of the data from this polyphasic taxonomic study, strain BNT52(T) represents a novel species within the genus Amycolatopsis for which the name Amycolatopsis cihanbeyliensis sp. nov. is proposed (type strain BNT52(T)=KCTC 29065(T)=NRRL B-24886(T)=DSM 45679(T)).