Isoptericola hypogeus sp. nov., isolated from the Roman catacomb of Domitilla.

In order to clarify the taxonomic position of an actinobacterium from the Roman catacomb of Domitilla, a combination of phenotypic characterization, phylogenetic analysis based on the 16S rRNA gene sequence and DNA-DNA relatedness studies was used. The results from the polyphasic taxonomic study of this organism showed that strain HKI 0342(T) (=DSM 16849(T)=NCIMB 14033(T)) should be considered as the type strain of a novel species of the genus Isoptericola, for which the name Isoptericola hypogeus sp. nov. is proposed.