Abstract

The taxonomic status of aNocardiopsisstrain, designated H13T, isolated from a high altitude Atacama Desert soil, was established by using a polyphasic approach. The strain was found to have chemotaxonomic, cultural and morphological characteristics consistent with its classification within the genusNocardiopsisand formed a well-supported clade in theNocardiopsisphylogenomic tree together with the type strains ofNocardiopsis alborubida,Nocardiopsis dassonvilleiandNocardiopsis synnematoformans. Strain H13Twas distinguished from its closest relatives by low average nucleotide identity (93.2–94.9 %) andin silicoDNA–DNA hybridization (52.5–62.4 %) values calculated from draft genome assemblies and by a range of phenotypic properties. On the basis of these results, it is proposed that the isolate be assigned to the genusNocardiopsisasNocardiopsis desertisp. nov. with isolate H13T(=CGMCC 4.7585T=KCTC 49249T) as the type strain.