A new actinomycete strain, ODS25T, exhibited antimicrobial activity against Bacillus subtilis, Kocuria rhizophila, Staphylococcus aureus, Staphylococcus epidermidis, Candida albicans, Candida tropicalis, was isolated from the ants, Odontomachus simillimus, collected from National Science Museum Thailand, Pathum Thani, Thailand. A polyphasic technique was used to characterize the taxonomic position. The morphological and chemotaxonomic properties of the strain are typical of members of the genus Streptomyces. Strain ODS25T contained ll-diaminopimelic and glucose in the whole-cell hydrolysate. The major cellular fatty acids were iso-C16:0, iso-C15:0, and anteiso-C15:0. The polar lipids were phosphatidylethanolamine, phosphatidylinositol mannosides, phosphatidylinositol, diphosphatidylglycerol, phosphatidylglycerol, three unidentified phospholipids, three unidentified amino lipids and two unidentified lipids. The menaquinones were MK-9(H6), MK-9(H8), and MK-9(H4). The G + C content of the genomic DNA was 71.3%. The 16 S rRNA gene sequence analysis demonstrated that the strain had the highest similarity to Streptomyces lusitanus NBRC 13464T (98.07%) but shared the phylogenetic neighbour with Streptomyces sulfonofaciens JCM 5069T. Both digital DNA–DNA hybridization and average nucleotide identity values among strain ODS25T and its associated Streptomyces type strains fell within the values lower than the threshold for differentiate the strain to the same species. Based on the phenotypic characteristics and genotypic distinctiveness, strain ODS25T is considered a novel species within the genus Streptomyces, for which the name Streptomyces odontomachi sp. nov. is proposed. The type strain is ODS25T (=TBRC 16204T=NBRC 115862T).
