DEMETRIA TERRAGENA GEN. NOV., SP, NOV., A NEW GENUS OF ACTINOMYCETES ISOLATED FROM COMPOST SOIL

A novel actinomycete was isolated from compost soil and was studied ta xonomically and phylogenetically. Cells of this organism were gram pos itive, not acid fast, nonmotile, nonsporulating, irregular coccoid to short rod shaped, and microaerophilic. The cell wall peptidoglycan con tained lysine and was cross-linked via an L-Lys<--L-Ser<--D-Asp interp eptide bridge. The major menaquinone was MK-8(H-4). The polar lipids w ere phosphatidylinositol, phosphatidylglycerol, diphosphatidylglycerol , phosphatidylethanolamine, and two unknown phospholipids. Mycolic aci ds were absent. The cellular fatty acid profile was complex, with larg e amounts of saturated and monounsaturated straight-chain acids and sm aller amounts of iso and anteiso branched-chain acids. The G+C content of the DNA was 66 mol%. Comparative 16S ribosomal DNA studies reveale d that strain HKI 0089(T) represents a novel lineage within Actinobact eria (32) distinct from all previously described genera and most close ly related to members of the genera Kytococcus, Dermacoccus, and Derma tophilus of the family Dermatophilaceae. On the basis of our results, we suggest that strain HKI 0089 should be classified in a new genus an d species, for which we propose the name Demetria terragena. The type strain and the only strain of the genus and species is HKI 0089 (DSM 1 1295).