Rubrobacter bracarensis sp. nov., a novel member of the genus Rubrobacter isolated from a biodeteriorated monument.

Abstract: Three actinobacteria strains isolated from a green biofilm covering the biodeteriorated interior walls of Vilar de Frades Church (Portugal) were studied using a polyphasic approach. The three strains were aerobic, non-spore forming and Gram-positive. Phylogenetically, the most closely related described species was Rubrobacter radiotolerans (94.2–94.3% and 81.9–82.5% similarities for the 16S rRNA and rpoB gene sequences, respectively). The fatty acid profile was dominated by anteiso-C_17:1 ω9c, and MK-8 was the only menaquinone present. These data clearly showed that the three strains could represent a new species, for which we propose the name Rubrobacter bracarensis sp. nov., with strain VF70612_S1^T (=CECT 7924=DSMZ 24908) as the type strain. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]