Nocardia endophytica sp. nov., an endophytic actinomycete isolated from the oil-seed plant Jatropha curcas L.

A novel actinomycete, designated strain KLBMP 1256(T), was isolated from a surface-sterilized stem of the oil-seed plant Jatropha curcas L. collected from Sichuan Province, south-west China, and was characterized to determine its taxonomic position. Phylogenetic analyses based on 16S rRNA gene sequences indicated that the isolate was closely related to members of the genus Nocardia in the family Nocardiaceae, being most closely related to Nocardia callitridis CAP 290(T) (98.4 % similarity) and Nocardia nova JCM 6044(T) (97.5 %). Levels of 16S rRNA gene sequence similarity between strain KLBMP 1256(T) and the type strains of other recognized species of the genus Nocardia were less than 97 %. Chemotaxonomic data supported the affiliation of the new isolate to the genus Nocardia. However, the novel strain could be distinguished from its closest phylogenetic neighbour, N. callitridis CAP 290(T), by a range of phenotypic properties. The combination of low DNA-DNA relatedness values and phenotypic differences from N. callitridis CAP 290(T) indicated that strain KLBMP 1256(T) represents a novel species of the genus Nocardia, for which the name Nocardia endophytica sp. nov. is proposed. The type strain is KLBMP 1256(T) ( = KCTC 19777(T)  = CCTCC AA 2010004(T)).