Saccharopolyspora spinosa sp. nov. Isolated from Soil Collected in a Sugar Mill Rum Still

A new Saccharopolyspora species isolated from soil collected in a sugar mill rum still is described. This organism is characterized by pale yellowish pink aerial hyphae that bear long chains of spores encased in distinctive spiny spore sheaths. Fragmentation occurs when the organism is cultured in liquid media. The new species contains meso-diaminopimelic acid, arabinose, and galactose (cell wall chemotype IV), has whole-cell sugar pattern type A, contains no mycolic acids, and contains phosphatidylcholine (phospholipid pattern type PIII). The single isolate has chemical and morphological properties consistent with the genus Saccharopolyspora. A comparison with previously described species of the genus in which we used standard techniques plus fatty acid analyses showed that this organism differs from previously described species. The name proposed for this new species is Saccharopolyspora spinosa. The type strain is strain A83543.1 (= NRRL 18395). The description is based on a single isolate.