Abstract
A Gram-positive and aerobic actinobacterium, strain SYSU D8006(T), was isolated from a desert sand sample collected from Gurbantunggut desert, China. Phenotypically, the strain was found to grow at 14-50 degrees C, pH 6.0-9.0 and in the presence of up to 4% (w/v) NaCl. The chemotaxonomic features of strain SYSU D8006(T) included menaquinone MK-9(H-4) as the respiratory quinone, diphosphatidylglycerol, phosphatidylcholine, phosphatidylethanolamine, phosphatidylinositol and phosphatidylinositol mannoside as known polar lipids, iso-C-15:0,C- iso-C-16:0,C- C(17:1)8c and C(18:1)9c as the predominant fatty acids, and arabinose, galactose and glucose as the whole cell sugars. Strain SYSU D8006(T) shared the highest 16S rRNA gene sequence identity with Blastococcus jejuensis DSM 19597(T) (98.2%). Based on the analyses of the phenotypic, genotypic and phylogenetic characteristics, strain SYSU D8006(T) is characterized to represent a novel species of the genus Blastococcus, for which the name Blastococcus deserti sp. nov. is proposed. The type strain is SYSU D8006(T) (=CGMCC 1.15935(T)=KCTC 49026(T)=CPCC 204618(T)).