Actinoalloteichus spitiensis sp nov., a novel actinobacterium isolated from a cold desert of the Indian Himalayas

An actinobacterial strain, RMV-1378(T), isolated from a cold desert of the Indian Himalayas, was subjected to polyphasic taxonomic characterization. The strain formed branching, non-fragmenting vegetative hyphae and did not produce diffusible pigments. Neither aerial mycelium nor spore formation was observed. The G+C content of the DNA was 72(.)0 mol%. The strain had chemotaxonomic characteristics typical of the genus Actinoalloteichus and was closely related (99(.)3% 16S rRNA gene sequence similarity) to Actinoalloteichus cyanogriseus, currently the only Actinoalloteichus species with a validly published name. However, the results of DNA-DNA hybridization experiments showed 51(.)9% relatedness with the type strain of A. cyanogriseus. On the basis of the above data and the physiological and biochemical distinctiveness of RMV-1378(T) (=MTCC 6194(T)=JCM 12472(T)=DSM 44848(T)), this strain should be classified as the type strain of a novel species of Actinoalloteichus, for which the name Actinoalloteichus spitiensis sp. nov. is proposed.