Rhodococcus cercidiphylli sp. nov., a new endophytic actinobacterium isolated from a Cercidiphyllum japonicum leaf

An endophytic actinobacterium, designated YIM 65003T, was isolated from a surface sterilized leaf sample of Cercidiphyllum japonicum collected from Yunnan province, south-west China. The morphological and chemotaxonomic properties of the isolate were typical of members of the genus Rhodococcus. Analysis of the 16S rRNA gene sequence revealed that the isolate was most closely related to Rhodococcus fascians DSM 20669T (99.6%) and Rhodococcus yunnanensis YIM 70056T (99.0%). DNA–DNA hybridization with the above microorganisms (46.3% and 48.8%, respectively), in combination with differences in the biochemical and physiological properties, suggested that strain YIM 65003T should be classified within a novel species of the genus Rhodococcus, for which the name Rhodococcus cercidiphylli sp. nov. is proposed, with YIM 65003T (=CCTCC AB 207160T=DSM 45141T) as the type strain. The 16S rRNA gene sequence of strain YIM 65003T has been deposited in GenBank under the accession number EU325542.