NUMERICAL AND CHEMICAL CLASSIFICATION OF STREPTOSPORANGIUM AND SOME RELATED ACTINOMYCETES

One hundred and seventeen streptosporangia from soil were compared wit h marker strains of the family Streptosporangiaceae for many phenotypi c properties. The data were examined using the Jaccard, pattern and si mple matching coefficients with clustering achieved using average, com plete and single linkage algorithms. Particular confidence was placed in the product of the pattern, average linkage analysis given the shar p definition of aggregate groups and clusters and a combination of low test error and high cophenetic correlation values. The test strains w ere assigned to five aggregate groups that were equated with the gener a Streptosporangium (group A), Microbispora (group B), Planobispora an d Planomonospora (Group C), Kutzneria (nee Streptosporangium viridogri seum (group D), and Microtetraspora (group E). The streptosporangia, b oth isolates and marker strains, were assigned to 5 major, 7 minor and 18 single membered clusters. Representative streptosporangia examined for chemical markers were characterised by the presence of meso-diami nopimelic acid in whole-organism hydrolysates, complex mixtures of str aight- and branched chain fatty acids, di- and tetrahydrogenated menaq uinones as predominant isoprenologues, and complex polar lipid pattern s containing diphosphatidylglycerol, phosphatidylethanolamine, phospha tidylglycerol, phosphatidylmethylethanolamine, phosphatidylinositol, p hosphatidylinositol mannosides and uncharacterised components. The che mical and numerical data support the taxonomic integrity of the validl y described species of Streptosporangium and suggest that the genus is markedly underspeciated.