Mycobacterium litorale sp nov., a rapidly growing mycobacterium from soil

A Gram-positive, acid-fast and rapidly growing rod, designated F4(T), was isolated from a soil sample of Haikou in China. The isolate shared 98.2% 16S rRNA gene sequence similarity with Mycobacterium monacense B9-21-178(T), 96.2% hsp65 sequence similarity with M. monacense Fl-05352 and 79.6 % 16S-23S rRNA internal transcribed spacer sequence similarity with M. monacense B9-21-178(T). DNA-DNA relatedness between the isolate and M. monacense DSM 44395(T) was 43.5%. The morphological analysis and physiological tests also showed that the isolate differed from any strain reported to date. The mycolic acid profile and the cellular fatty acid composition were also determined. On the basis of phenotypic and chemotaxonomic characteristics and phylogenetic data, it was concluded that strain F4(T) (=CGMCC 4.5724(T)=JCM 17423(T)) merited classification as the type strain of a novel species, for which the name Mycobacterium litorale sp. nov. is proposed.