Flexivirga alba gen. nov., sp nov., an actinobacterial taxon in the family Dermacoccaceae

A novel actinobacterial strain ST13(T) isolated from soil near wastewater treatment facilities of an electroplating plant was subjected to a polyphasic taxonomic study. Cells of this organism were non-sporulating, and were irregular coccoid to comma shaped. The peptidoglycan of strain ST13(T) contained glutamic acid, serine, alanine, glycine and lysine, and represented the peptidoglycan type A4 alpha. The whole-cell sugars contained ribose, glucose, galactose, rhamnose and mannose. The predominant menaquinone was MK-8(H(4)). The major fatty acid was iso-C(16:0). The polar lipid contained phosphatidylglycerol. The DNA G+C content was 67.4 mol%. Phylogenetic analysis based on 16S rRNA gene sequences revealed that strain ST13(T) fell within the radius of the family Dermacoccaceae, and its closest neighbor was Luteipulveratus mongoliensis MN07-A0370(T) (95.1%). However, strain ST13(T) did not make a coherent clade with members of the recognized organisms. On the basis of the phylogenetic and phenotypic characteristics of this actinobacterium, a novel genus and species, Flexivirga alba gen. nov., sp. nov., is proposed. The type strain of F. alba is ST13(T) (=NBRC 107580(T) = DSM 24460(T)). The Journal of Antibiotics (2011) 64, 613-616; doi: 10.1038/ja.2011.62; published online 3 August 2011