A novel actinobacterium, designated strain BR-34T
, was isolated from rhizosphere soil of bamboo
(Phyllostachys nigro var. henonis) sampled in Damyang, Korea. The strain was found to have
morphological and chemotaxonomic characteristics typical of the genus Catenulispora. The strain
contained iso-C16 : 0 as the major fatty acid and MK-9(H4), MK-9(H6) and MK-9(H8) as major
isoprenoid quinones. Phylogenetic analysis based on 16S rRNA gene sequences showed that
strain BR-34T formed a cluster separate from members of the genus Catenulispora and was
related most closely to Catenulispora acidiphila ID139908T (97.4 % similarity), Catenulispora
rubra Aac-30T (97.3 %), Catenulispora yoronensis TT N02-20T (97.3 %) and Catenulispora
subtropica TT 99-48T (97 %). However, the level of DNA–DNA relatedness between strain BR-
34T and C. acidiphila ID139908T was only 45.32 %. Based on DNA–DNA relatedness,
morphological and phenotypic data, strain BR-34T could be distinguished from the type strains of
phylogenetically related species. It is therefore considered to represent a novel species of the
genus Catenulispora, for which the name Catenulispora graminis sp. nov. is proposed. The type
strain is BR-34T (5KACC 15070T
5NBRC 107755T
).