HERBIDOSPORA GEN-NOV, A NEW GENUS OF THE FAMILY STREPTOSPORANGIACEAE GOODFELLOW ET-AL 1990

Eight actinomycete strains originally isolated from soil and plant sam ples were studied to determine their taxonomic status. All isolates pr oduced branching substrate mycelia, but no distinct aerial hyphae. Rel atively short chains of nonmotile spores (10 to 30 spores per chain) w ere borne on the tips of sporophores arising directly from the agar su rface. The chemotaxonomic characteristics of the isolates, with the ex ception of the menaquinone profile, coincided with those of members of the family Streptosporangiaceae Goodfellow, Stanton, Simpson, and Min nikin 1990. Furthermore, the results of a phylogenetic analysis perfor med with 5S rRNA support the conclusion that the isolates should be cl assified in this family. The isolates differed from members of the con stituent genera of the Streptosporangiaceae in morphological character istics and menaquinone composition. Therefore, we propose a new genus for the strains, Herbidospora. The type species and type strain are He rbidospora cretacea sp. nov. and strain K-319 (= JCM 8553), respective ly.