Terrabacter terrae sp nov., a novel actinomycete isolated from soil in Spain

A Gram-positive, aerobic, long-rod-shaped, non-spore-forming bacterium (strain PPLBT) was isolated from soil mixed with Iberian pig hair. This actinomycete showed keratinase activity in vitro when chicken feathers were added to the culture medium. Strain PPLBT was oxidase-negative and catalase-positive and produced lipase and esterase lipase. This actinomycete grew at 40 C on nutrient agar and in the same medium containing 5% (w/v) NaCl. Growth was observed with many different carbohydrates as the sole carbon source. On the basis of 16S rRNA gene sequence similarity, strain PPLBT was shown to belong to the genus Terrabacter of the family Intrasporangiaceae. Strain PPLBT showed 98-8% 16S rRNA gene sequence similarity to Terrabacter tumescens. Chemotaxonomic data, such as the main ubiquinone (MK-8), the main polar lipids (phosphatidylethanolamine, diphosphatidylglycerol and phosphatidyl inositol) and the main fatty acids (i-C-15:0, ai-C-15:0, i-C-16:0 and ai-C-17:0) supported the affiliation of strain PPLBT to the genus Terrabacter. The G+C content of the DNA was 71 mol%. The results of DNA-DNA hybridization (36.6% relatedness between Terrabacter tumescens and strain PPLBT) and physiological and biochemical tests suggested that strain PPLBT belongs to a novel species of the genus Terrabacter, for which the name Terrabacter terrae sp. nov. is proposed. The type strain is PPLBT (=CECT 3379(T)=LMG 22921(T)).