Abstract

A Gram-positive and aerobic actinobacterium, strain SYSU D8006 T , was isolated from a desert sand sample collected from Gurbantunggut desert, China. Phenotypically, the strain was found to grow at 14–50 °C, pH 6.0–9.0 and in the presence of up to 4% (w/v) NaCl. The chemotaxonomic features of strain SYSU D8006 T included menaquinone MK-9(H 4 ) as the respiratory quinone, diphosphatidylglycerol, phosphatidylcholine, phosphatidylethanolamine, phosphatidylinositol and phosphatidylinositol mannoside as known polar lipids, iso-C 15:0, iso-C 16:0, C 17:1 ω 8 c and C 18:1 ω 9c as the predominant fatty acids, and arabinose, galactose and glucose as the whole cell sugars. Strain SYSU D8006 T shared the highest 16S rRNA gene sequence identity with Blastococcus jejuensis DSM 19597 T (98.2%). Based on the analyses of the phenotypic, genotypic and phylogenetic characteristics, strain SYSU D8006 T is characterized to represent a novel species of the genus Blastococcus , for which the name Blastococcus deserti sp. nov. is proposed. The type strain is SYSU D8006 T (= CGMCC 1.15935 T  = KCTC 49026 T  = CPCC 204618 T ).