CHEMOTAXONOMY AND NUMERICAL TAXONOMY OF THE GENUS NOCARDIOPSIS MEYER 1976

A total of 15 strains of the genus Nocardiopsis were characterized chemotaxonomically and physiologically in an attempt to resolve their taxonomy. These strains fell into two taxa, which differed in cell wall composition and menaquinone, phospholipid, and fatty acid patterns. Ten of the strains assessed in this study belong to the genus Nocardiopsis and can be assigned to five species on the basis of their physiology. Nocardiopsis dassonvillei subsp. dassonvillei is heterogeneous; N. dassonvillei remains centered on the type strain (strain DSM 43111), and the remaining strains form a new subspecies, Nocardiopsis albus subsp. albus sp. nov. (type strain, strain DSM 43377). The former N. dassonvillei subsp. prasina is recognized as a close relative of the latter organism and is designated N. albus subsp. prasina comb. nov. Two formerly misclassified species of the genus Actinomyces not on the Approved Lists are revived as Nocardiopsis alborubidus sp. nov. and Nocardiopsis listeri sp. nov. The remaining five Nocardiopsis species (Nocardiopsis coeruleofusca, Nocardiopsis flava, Nocardiopsis longispora, Nocardiopsis mutabilis, and Nocardiopsis syringae) appear to be misclassified, and, on the basis of their similarities to the type species Saccharothrix australiensis, reclassification in the genus Saccharothrix should be considered. Nocardiopsis atra and Nocardiopsis africana were not included in this study.