Nocardia exalbida sp. nov., isolated from Japanese patients with nocardiosis

Two bacterial strains isolated from different hospitals in Japan were subjected to a polyphasic analysis. Strains IFM 0803T and IFM 10383 were found to have morphological, biochemical, physiological and chemotaxonomic properties consistent with their classification in the genus Nocardia. Strains IFM 0803T and IFM 10383 clustered with the type strain of Nocardia xishanensis, showing 16S rRNA gene sequence similarities of 98.6–98.9 % with this species. The novel strains could be distinguished from N. xishanensis by a range of phenotypic properties. Based on their phenotypic and phylogenetic characteristics, the two isolates are proposed as members of a novel species of the genus Nocardia, Nocardia exalbida sp. nov., with the type strain IFM 0803T (=NBRC 100660T=JCM 12667T=DSM 44883T).