Nocardiopsis coralliicola sp. nov., isolated from the gorgonian coral, Menella praelonga.

An actinobacterial strain, SCSIO 10427(T), was isolated from a gorgonian coral sample collected from Weizhou Island, Guangxi province, China, and its taxonomic position was investigated using a polyphasic approach. The organism was found to have a range of chemical and morphological properties consistent with its classification in the genus Nocardiopsis. Phylogenetic analysis indicated that 16S rRNA gene sequence similarity between strain SCSIO 10427(T) and type strains of other recognized members of the genus Nocardiopsis was lower than 98.4%. Furthermore, phenotypic characteristics revealed that the strain differed from the currently recognized species of the genus Nocardiopsis. Therefore, strain SCSIO 10427(T) represents a novel species of the genus Nocardiopsis, for which the name Nocardiopsis coralliicola sp. nov. is proposed. The type strain is SCSIO 10427(T) (=CCTCC AA 2011010(T)=DSM 45611(T)).