Saccharopolyspora cebuensis sp. nov., a novel actinomycete isolated from a Philippine sponge (Porifera)

1 Research Center for Infectious Diseases, University of Würzburg, Röntgenring 11, D-97070 Würzburg, Germany 2 College of Pharmacy, University of San Carlos, Cebu City 6000, Philippines Correspondence Ute Hentschel ute.hentschel{at}mail.uni-wuerzburg.de The taxonomic status of a marine actinomycete isolated from the sponge Haliclona sp. collected from Cebu, Philippines, was established using both phenotypic and genotypic data. Strain SPE 10-1 T exhibited chemotaxonomic and morphological characteristics that were consistent with those of members of the genus Saccharopolyspora . It showed a strict requirement for salt and is the first obligate marine bacterium of the genus Saccharopolyspora to be isolated. The principal isoprenoid quinone detected was MK-9(H 4 ). The fatty acid pattern consisted mainly of terminally branched iso and anteiso fatty acids. The DNA G+C content was 72.6 mol%. Analysis of the 16S rRNA gene sequence supported affiliation of the strain with the genus Saccharopolyspora ; the type strain of Saccharopolyspora gregorii was the closest phylogenetic relative (96 % sequence similarity). Sequence similarities of strain SPE 10-1 T to other type strains of this genus were 93–95 %. It is proposed that strain SPE 10-1 T should be classified in the genus Saccharopolyspora as a representative of Saccharopolyspora cebuensis sp. nov. The type strain of Saccharopolyspora cebuensis is SPE 10-1 T (=DSM 45019 T =CIP 109355 T ). Abbreviations: ASW, artificial seawater The GenBank/EMBL/DDBJ accession number for the 16S rRNA gene sequence of strain SPE 10-1 T is EF030715 .