Nocardia araoensis sp. nov. and Nocardia pneumoniae sp. nov., isolated from patients in Japan
Two actinomycete strains isolated from two patients with lung nocardiosis between 1995 and 1997 in Japan were assigned to novel species of the genus Nocardia based on morphological and chemical criteria. Comparative 16S rRNA gene sequence analysis of the two strains revealed that they belong to the genus Nocardia and are most closely related to the species Nocardia beijingensis. Determination of DNA–DNA relatedness indicated that these strains could be assigned to two novel species. Based on their phenotypic and phylogenetic characters, two novel species of the genus Nocardia are proposed: Nocardia araoensis sp. nov. for IFM 0575T (=NBRC 100135T=JCM 12118T=DSM 44729T) and Nocardia pneumoniae sp. nov. for IFM 0784T (=NBRC 100136T=JCM 12119T=DSM 44730T).