Emended description of Actinoplanes friuliensis and description of Actinoplanes nipponensis sp. nov., antibiotic-producing species of the genus Actinoplanes

In 2000, an actinomycete strain that showed strong antibacterial activity in culture extracts was isolated from a soil sample. The antibiotic activity corresponds to a lipopeptide complex that was named friulimycin, as the producing micro-organism was isolated from a soil sample from the region of Friaul in Italy. Taxonomic investigations showed that the producer strain belonged to a novel species of the genus Actinoplanes, for which the name Actinoplanes friuliensis was proposed. During further taxonomic studies, another antibiotic-producing isolate belonging to the genus Actinoplanes, FH 2241T, was characterized; in a patent, the name ‘Actinoplanes nipponensis’ was proposed for this strain. This organism was shown to be related to A. friuliensis. ‘A. nipponensis’ was never described in detail and the name was never validly published. Here we present a complete description of Actinoplanes nipponensis sp. Nov. (type strain FH 2241T = ATCC 31145T = DSM 43867T) and an emended description of Actinoplanes friuliensis (type strain HAG 010964T = DSM 45797T = CCUG 63250T).