Abstract
The taxonomic position of a lemon-yellow-pigmented actinobacterium, strain K22-21T, isolated from a soil sample from Lahaul-Spiti Valley in the Indian Himalayas, was determined using a polyphasic approach. The strain had phenotypic and chemical properties that were consistent with its classification in the genus Agrococcus. Alignment of the 16S rRNA gene sequence of strain K22-21T with sequences from Agrococcus jenensis DSM 9580T, Agrococcus baldri DSM 14215T and Agrococcus citreus DSM 12453T revealed similarities of 98.5, 96.8 and 96.6 %, respectively. However, the level of DNADNA relatedness between strain K22-21T and A. jenensis was 55.1 %. The novel strain could be distinguished from type strains of the three species of the genus Agrococcus using DNADNA relatedness and phenotypic data. Based on these differences, strain K22-21T (=MTCC 7154T=DSM 17612T) should be classified as the type strain of a novel species of Agrococcus, for which the name Agrococcus lahaulensis sp. nov. is proposed.