Agrococcus lahaulensis sp. nov., isolated from a cold desert of the Indian Himalayas

The taxonomic position of a lemon-yellow-pigmented actinobacterium, strain K22-21(T), isolated from a soil sample from Lahaul-Spiti Valley in the Indian Himalayas, was determined using a polyphasic approach. The strain had phenotypic and chemical properties that were consistent with its classification in the genus Agrococcus. Alignment of the 16S rRNA gene sequence of strain K22-21(T) with sequences from Agrococcus jenensis DSM 9580(T), Agrococcus baldri DSM 14215(T) and Agrococcus citreus DSM 12453(T) revealed similarities of 98.5, 96.8 and 96.6 %, respectively. However, the level of DNA-DNA relatedness between strain K22-21(T) and A. jenensis was 55.1 %. The novel strain could be distinguished from type strains of the three species of the genus Agrococcus using DNA-DNA relatedness and phenotypic data. Based on these differences, strain K22-21(T) (=MTCC 7154(T)=DSM 17612(T)) should be classified as the type strain of a novel species of Agrococcus, for which the name Agrococcus lahaulensis sp. nov. is proposed.