Mycolicibacterium stellerae sp. nov., a rapidly growing scotochromogenic strain isolated from Stellera chamaejasme

Abstract

A polyphasic study was undertaken to establish the taxonomic provenance of a rapidly growing <i>Mycolicibacterium</i> strain, CECT 8783^T, recovered from the plant <i>Stellera chamaejasme</i> L. in Yunnan Province, China. Phylogenetic analyses based upon 16S rRNA and whole-genome sequences showed that the strain formed a distinct branch within the evolutionary radiation of the genus <i>Mycolicibacterium</i>. The strain was most closely related to <i>Mycolicibacterium moriokaense</i> DSM 44221^T with 98.4 % 16S rRNA gene sequence similarity, but was distinguished readily from this taxon by a combination of chemotaxonomic and phenotypic features and by low average nucleotide identity and digital DNA-DNA hybridization values of 79.5 and 21.1 %, respectively. Consequently, the strain is considered, to represent a novel species of <i>Mycolicibacterium</i> for which the name <i>Mycolicibacterium stellerae</i> sp. nov is proposed; the type strain is I10A-01893^T (=CECT 8783^T=KCTC 19843^T=DSM 45590^T).