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Title: STREPTOMYCES STRAMINEUS SP. NOV.: A NEW SPECIES OF THE VERTICILLATE STREPTOMYCES

Author
item Labeda, David
item LECHEVALIER, M - RETIRED
item TESTA, R - WYTHE-AYERST RESEARCH

Submitted to: International Journal of Systematic and Evolutionary Microbiology
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 3/6/1997
Publication Date: N/A
Citation: N/A

Interpretive Summary: During the course of antibiotic discovery research, a soil bacterium, strain NRRL 12292 was isolated which produced two new compounds similar to the antitumor antibiotic phleomycin. The microorganism was found to produce spores on verticils, which make its aerial mycelium look similar to barbed wire when observed microscopically. This characteristic places the strain in the genus Streptomyces, and the straw-yellow color and appearance of colonies of this microorganism in culture was very different from other described species of Streptomyces. This strain was then compared to other Streptomyces species having similar morphology for both genetic relatedness and its environmental and nutritional needs for growth. Strain NRRL 12292 was found to be unique in of all properties evaluated, so a new species, named Streptomyces stramineus for the color of the colonies (stramineus = straw-colored), was described.

Technical Abstract: Strain NRRL 12292, which produces the bleomycin-like antibiotics LL- BO1208alpha and LL-BO1208beta, exhibits umbrels of chains of smooth- surfaced ovoid spores borne on verticils on the aerial mycelia, indicating that it is a member of the verticillate group of Streptomyces formerly classified in the genus Streptoverticillium. The strain was compared morphologically and physiologically to 54 other verticillate Streptomyces strains. DNA relatedness between strain NRRL 12292 and 34 other verticillate Streptomyces strains, including those representing at least 19 genetic species clusters, was also determined. Strain NRRL 12292 is morphologically and physiologically distinct from the other verticillate strains studied, in particular because of the straw-yellow color of its aerial mycelia and spore mass. DNA hybridization data support the uniqueness of this strain, since only low levels of DNA relatedness are observed between NRRL 12292 and the other verticillate strains in the study. These data support the description of the new species Streptomyces stramineus with NRRL 12292T as the type strain.