Classification of the gifted natural product producer Streptomyces roseofaciens sp. nov. by polyphasic taxonomy

Abstract

A novel verticillate strain of streptomycetes, Streptomyces strain MBT76T, was isolated from the QinLing mountains, which harbours more than 40 biosynthetic gene clusters for natural products. Here we present full taxonomic classification of strain MBT76T, and show that it has chemotaxonomic, genomic and morphological properties consistent with its classification in the genus Streptomyces. Strain MBT76T is part of the cluster of Streptoverticillates, a group within the genus Streptomyces that has characteristic whorl-forming spores produced in chains along the lateral wall of the hyphae. Multi-locus sequence analysis based on five housekeeping gene alleles showed that MBT76T is closely related to Streptomyces hiroshimensis. Average Nucleotide Identification (ANI) and Genome to Genome Distance Calculation (GGDC) of the genomes of strain MBT76T and S. hiroshimensis separated them into distinct species. Strain MBT76T represents a novel species of the genus Streptomyces for which we propose the name Streptomyces roseofaciens sp. nov. The type strain is MBT76T (=NCCB 100637T =DSM 106196T). The whole genome of MBT76T has 7974 predicted open reading frames and a total genome size of 8.64 Mb. Further genomic analysis showed that verticillate streptomycetes lack the sporulation gene ssgE, and our data suggest that this is a useful genetic marker for the spore-chain morphology of the verticillates.