Rhodococcus antrifimi sp nov., isolated from dried bat dung of a cave

A Gram-reaction-positive, high DNA G + C content, non-motile actinobacterium, strain D7-21(T), was isolated from dried bat dung inside a natural cave and its taxonomic status was examined by using a polyphasic approach. The 16S rRNA gene sequence study showed that the isolate belonged to the genus Rhodococcus and formed a cluster with Rhodococcus defluvii (98.98 % gene similarity), Rhodococcus equi (98.62 %) and Rhodococcus kunmingensis (97.66 %). Whole-cell hydrolysates contained meso-diaminopimelic acid, arabinose and galactose as the diagnostic diamino acid and sugars. MK-8(H-2) was the predominant menaquinone. The major polar lipids were diphosphatidylglycerol, phosphatidylethanolamine, phosphatidylglycerol, phosphatidylinositol, phosphatidylinositol mannoside, an unknown phosphoglycolipid and an unknown glycolipid. Mycolic acids were present. The major fatty acids were C-16 : 0, C-18 : 1 omega 9c and 10-methyl C-18 : 0. The DNA G + C content was 70.1 mol%. A battery of phenotypic features and DNA-DNA relatedness data support that strain D7-21(T) (= KCTC 29469(T) = DSM 46727(T)) represents a novel species of the genus Rhodococcus, for which Rhodococcus antrifimi sp. nov. is proposed.