Geodermatophilus poikilotrophi sp. nov.: A Multitolerant Actinomycete Isolated from Dolomitic Marble

A novel Gram-reaction-positive, aerobic actinobacterium, tolerant to mitomycin C, heavy metals, metalloids, hydrogen peroxide, desiccation, and ionizing- and UV-radiation, designated G18(T), was isolated from dolomitic marble collected from outcrops in Samara (Namibia). The growth range was 15–35°C, at pH 5.5–9.5 and in presence of 1% NaCl, forming greenish-black coloured colonies on GYM Streptomyces agar. Chemotaxonomic and molecular characteristics of the isolate matched those described for other representatives of the genus Geodermatophilus. The peptidoglycan contained meso-diaminopimelic acid as diagnostic diaminoacid. The main phospholipids were phosphatidylethanolamine, phosphatidylcholine, phosphatidylinositol, and small amount of diphosphatidylglycerol. MK-9(H(4)) was the dominant menaquinone and galactose was detected as diagnostic sugar. The major cellular fatty acids were branched-chain saturated acids iso-C(16:0) and iso-C(15:0) and the unsaturated C(17:1) ω8c and C(16:1) ω7c. The 16S rRNA gene showed 97.4–99.1% sequence identity with the other representatives of genus Geodermatophilus. Based on phenotypic results and 16S rRNA gene sequence analysis, strain G18(T) is proposed to represent a novel species, Geodermatophilus poikilotrophi. Type strain is G18(T) (= DSM 44209(T) = CCUG 63018(T)). The INSDC accession number is HF970583. The novel R software package lethal was used to compute the lethal doses with confidence intervals resulting from tolerance experiments.