Nocardia araoensis sp. nov. and Nocardia pneumoniae sp. nov., isolated from patients in Japan

1 Research Center for Pathogenic Fungi and Microbial Toxicoses, Chiba University, 1-8-1 Inohana, Chuo-ku, Chiba 260-8673, Japan 2 Hiroshima Red Cross and Atomic Bomb Survivors Hospital, Hiroshima, Japan 3 Deutsche Sammlung von Mikroorganismen und Zellkulturen, Braunschweig, Germany Correspondence Yuzuru Mikami mikami{at}faculty.chiba-u.jp Two actinomycete strains isolated from two patients with lung nocardiosis between 1995 and 1997 in Japan were assigned to novel species of the genus Nocardia based on morphological and chemical criteria. Comparative 16S rRNA gene sequence analysis of the two strains revealed that they belong to the genus Nocardia and are most closely related to the species Nocardia beijingensis . Determination of DNA–DNA relatedness indicated that these strains could be assigned to two novel species. Based on their phenotypic and phylogenetic characters, two novel species of the genus Nocardia are proposed: Nocardia araoensis sp. nov. for IFM 0575 T (=NBRC 100135 T =JCM 12118 T =DSM 44729 T ) and Nocardia pneumoniae sp. nov. for IFM 0784 T (=NBRC 100136 T =JCM 12119 T =DSM 44730 T ). Published online ahead of print on 1 July 2004 as DOI 10.1099/ijs.0.63074-0. The GenBank/EMBL/DDBJ accession numbers for the 16S rRNA gene sequences of Nocardia araoensis IFM 0575 T and Nocardia pneumoniae IFM 0784 T are AB108779 and AB108780 , respectively. Additional phenotypic characteristics and an expanded phylogenetic tree are available as supplementary material in IJSEM Online.