Nocardia tenerifensis sp. nov.
A Gram-positive, non-spore-forming bacterium (GW39-1573T) was isolated from soil of the Spanish island of Tenerife. 16S rRNA gene sequence similarity studies showed that strain GW39-1573T belonged to the genus Nocardia and was most closely related to Nocardia brasiliensis (98·0 %), Nocardia beijingensis (97·3 %), Nocardia transvalensis (97·5 %), Nocardia asteroides (97·2 %) and Nocardia farcinica (97·0 %). Strain GW39-1573T could be distinguished from all other validly described Nocardia species by sequence similarity values of less than 97 %. Chemotaxonomic data [major menaquinone: MK-8(H4, ω-cycl); major polar lipids: diphosphatidylglycerol, phosphatidylglycerol, phosphatidylethanolamine, phosphatidylinositol, phosphatidylinositol mannoside and an unknown glycolipid and an unknown phospholipid; major fatty acids: C16 : 0, C18 : 1 ω9c and 10 methyl C16 : 0] and the presence of mycolic acids supported the affiliation of strain GW39-1573T to the genus Nocardia. The results of DNA–DNA hybridizations and physiological and biochemical tests allowed genotypic and phenotypic differentiation of strain GW39-1573T from those related species that showed 16S rRNA gene sequence similarity values of greater than 97 %. Strain GW39-1573T merits species status, and the name Nocardia tenerifensis is proposed with the type strain GW39-1573T (=DSM 44704T=CIP 107929T).