The Streptomyces albidoflavus 16S rRNA gene clade contains 10 species and subspecies with identical 16S rRNA gene sequences and very similar numerical taxonomic data, including Streptomyces griseus subsp. solvifaciens. Type strains of this clade, as well as three CGMCC strains which were received as Streptomyces galilaeus, Streptomyces sioyaensis and Streptomyces vinaceus, respectively, that shared the same 16S rRNA gene sequences with the clade, were subjected to multilocus sequence analysis (MLSA), DNA-DNA hybridization (DDH) and phenotypic characterization for a comprehensive reevaluation. The 13 strains still formed a distinct, albeit loosely related, clade in the phylogenetic tree based on concatenated sequences of aptD, gyrB, recA, rpoB and trpB genes, supported by a high bootstrap value and different tree-making algorithms, with MLSA evolutionary distances ranging from 0 to 0.003. DDH values among these strains were well above the 70% cut-off point for species delineation. Based on the genotypic data of MLSA and DDH, combined with key phenotypic properties in common, it is proposed that the 10 species and subspecies of the S. albidoflavus clade, namely S. albidoflavus, S. canescens, S. champavatii, S. coelicolor, S. felleus, S. globisporus subsp. caucasicus, S. griseus subsp. solvifaciens, S. limosus, S. odorifer and S. sampsonii, should be merged into a single genomic species, for which the name S. albidoflavus is retained, and that the three strains S. galilaeus CGMCC 4.1320, S. sioyaensis CGMCC 4.1306 and S. vinaceus CGMCC 4.1305 should be assigned to S. albidoflavus as well. The results also indicated that MLSA could be the procedure of choice for distinguishing between species within Streptomyces 16S rRNA gene clades.

N/A

With reference to the first Principle of the International Code of Nomenclature of Bacteria, which emphasizes stability of names, it is proposed that the original names Streptococcus sanguis, Streptococcus rattus, Streptococcus cricetus, Erwinia ananas, Eubacterium tarantellus, Lactobacillus sake, Nitrosococcus oceanus, Pseudomonas betle, Rickettsia canada and Streptomyces rangoon, all included in the Approved Lists of Bacterial Names, be conserved. Request for an Opinion.

N/A

N/A

Together with 31 other incorrectly formed (i.e. as nominative nouns in apposition) specific epithets, the epithet of Streptomyces scabies was corrected to Streptomyces scabiei in Taxonomic Notes published in 1997 and 1998. A subsequent Request for an Opinion, published in 2001, to reinstate the incorrect epithets for ten of these species was denied by the Judicial Commission in 2002. In 2007, a further Request for an Opinion was submitted to the Judicial Commission which proposed the conservation of the incorrect epithet of Streptomyces 'scabies' over the corrected one, scabiei. After having stated once that the corrections made to the epithets were performed according to the correct application of the International Code of Nomenclature of Bacteria (now 'of Prokaryotes', ICNP), the Judicial Commission would lose authority and credibility if it were to follow a request to abandon even one of the now correct 32 epithets in favour of its incorrectly formed predecessor. Microbiologists who accept changes in names of genera should also accept the correction of grammatical or orthographical changes in specific epithets.

In phylogenetic analyses of the genus Streptomyces using 16S rRNA gene sequences, Streptomyces albus subsp. albus NRRL B-1811(T) forms a cluster with five other species having identical or nearly identical 16S rRNA gene sequences. Moreover, the morphological and physiological characteristics of these other species, including Streptomyces almquistii NRRL B-1685(T), Streptomyces flocculus NRRL B-2465(T), Streptomyces gibsonii NRRL B-1335(T) and Streptomyces rangoonensis NRRL B-12378(T) are quite similar. This cluster is of particular taxonomic interest because Streptomyces albus is the type species of the genus Streptomyces. The related strains were subjected to multilocus sequence analysis (MLSA) utilizing partial sequences of the housekeeping genes atpD, gyrB, recA, rpoB and trpB and confirmation of previously reported phenotypic characteristics. The five strains formed a coherent cluster supported by a 100 % bootstrap value in phylogenetic trees generated from sequence alignments prepared by concatenating the sequences of the housekeeping genes, and identical tree topology was observed using various different tree-making algorithms. Moreover, all but one strain, S. flocculus NRRL B-2465(T), exhibited identical sequences for all of the five housekeeping gene loci sequenced, but NRRL B-2465(T) still exhibited an MLSA evolutionary distance of 0.005 from the other strains, a value that is lower than the 0.007 MLSA evolutionary distance threshold proposed for species-level relatedness. These data support a proposal to reclassify S. almquistii, S. flocculus, S. gibsonii and S. rangoonensis as later heterotypic synonyms of S. albus with NRRL B-1811(T) as the type strain. The MLSA sequence database also demonstrated utility for quickly and conclusively confirming that numerous strains within the ARS Culture Collection had been previously misidentified as subspecies of S. albus and that Streptomyces albus subsp. pathocidicus should be redescribed as a novel species, Streptomyces pathocidini sp. nov., with the type strain NRRL B-24287(T).