# Streptomyces anthophorae sp. nov. and Streptomyces nidicola sp. nov., novel actinobacteria isolated from a solitary bee

## TL;DR

Two new species of Streptomyces bacteria were discovered in the nests of a solitary bee in California.

## Contribution

Identification and characterization of two novel Streptomyces species from bee nests using genomic and chemotaxonomic methods.

## Key findings

- Two new Streptomyces species were identified from bee brood nests in California.
- The species differ in genome size, gene count, fatty acid composition, and secondary metabolite gene clusters.
- The findings highlight unique genetic features in bee-associated Streptomyces strains compared to related species.

## Abstract

Six novel actinobacterial strains (BH034T, BH055, BH097, BH104, BH105 and BH106T) were isolated from developing brood in nests of the solitary bee species Anthophora bomboides from Bodega Bay, California, USA. Phylogenetic analysis based on a five-gene multilocus sequence alignment and whole-genome data positions all six strains within the genus Streptomyces, with close relation to Streptomyces endophyticus YIM 65594T and Streptomyces fractus MV32T. Through genetic and chemotaxonomic analysis, five of the isolates (BH034T, BH055, BH097, BH104 and BH105) were found to be a clade representing one species [>96% average nucleotide identity (ANI)], whereas BH106T was a distinct species (<93% ANI with each of the other isolate genomes). Within this species (BH034T-BH105), the genomes comprised on average 9.6 Mb (±0.4 Mb), encoded 8,640 (±349) predicted genes and had a G+C content of 70.9 (±0.07) mol%. The type strain, BH034T, contained iso-C16 : 0, anteiso-C15 : 0 and iso-C15 : 0 as major fatty acids and contained ll-diaminopimelic acid in the cell wall. The remaining strain, BH106T, represents a distinct species; its genome comprised 9.4 Mb, encoded 8,426 predicted genes and had a G+C content of 70.7 mol%; the major fatty acids were anteiso-C15 : 0, anteiso-C17 : 0, iso-C17 : 0 and iso-C15 : 0, and the cell wall also contained ll-diaminopimelic acid. Functional genomic analysis revealed multiple secondary metabolite gene clusters in the bee-associated Streptomyces strains, several of which were found to be absent in closely related Streptomyces species. Based on genotypic, phenotypic and chemotaxonomic analyses, strains BH034-BH105 and BH106 represent two novel species within the genus Streptomyces, for which the names Streptomyces anthophorae sp. nov. (type strain BH034T=NRRL B-65741T=DSM 119658T) and Streptomyces nidicola sp. nov. (type strain BH106T=NRRL B-65742T=DSM 119659T) are proposed.