Kribbella albertanoniae sp nov., isolated from a Roman catacomb, and emended description of the genus Kribbella

A novel actinobacterium, strain BC640(T), was isolated from a biofilm sample collected in 2009 in the Saint Callistus Roman catacombs. Analysis of the 16S rRNA gene sequence showed that the strain belonged to the genus Kribbella. Phylogenetic analysis using the 16S rRNA gene and concatenated gyrB, rpoB, relA, recA and atpD gene sequences showed that strain BC640(T) was most closely related to the type strains of Kribbella yunnanensis and Kribbella sandramycini. Based on gyrB genetic distance analysis, strain BC640(T) was shown to be distinct from all Kribbella type strains. DNA DNA hybridization experiments confirmed that strain BC640(T) represents a genomic species distinct from its closest phylogenetic relatives, K. yunnanensis DSM 15499(T) (53.5 +/- 7.8 % DNA relatedness) and K sandramycini DSM 15626(T) (33.5 +/- 5.0 %). Physiological comparisons further showed that strain BC640(T) is phenotypically distinct from the type strains of K yunnanensis and K. sandramycini. Strain BC640(T) (=DSM 26744(T)=NRRL B-24917(T)) is thus presented as the type strain of a novel species, for which the name Kribbella albertanoniae sp. nov. is proposed.