Rhodococcus yunnanensis sp. nov., a mesophilic actinobacterium isolated from forest soil.

A Gram-positive, aerobic, non-motile, mesophilic strain, designated YIM 70056(T), was isolated from a forest soil sample in Yunnan Province, China. Phylogenetic analysis based on 16S rRNA gene sequences revealed that this isolate had less than 97.0 % similarity to any Rhodococcus species with validly published names, with the exception of Rhodococcus fascians (DSM 20669(T)), which was found to be its closest neighbour (98.9 % similarity). Chemotaxonomic data, including peptidoglycan type, diagnostic sugar compositions, fatty acid profiles, menaquinones, polar lipids and mycolic acids, were determined for this isolate; the results supported the affiliation of strain YIM 70056(T) to the genus Rhodococcus. The DNA G + C content was 63.5 mol%. The results of DNA-DNA hybridization with R. fascians DSM 20669(T), in combination with chemotaxonomic and physiological data, demonstrated that isolate YIM 70056(T) represents a novel Rhodococcus species, for which the name Rhodococcus yunnanensis sp. nov. is proposed, with YIM 70056(T) (=CCTCC AA 204007(T) = KCTC 19021(T) = DSM 44837(T)) as the type strain.