Cryptoendolithic actinomycetes from antarctic sandstone rock samples: Micromonospora endolithica sp. nov. and two isolates related to Micromonospora coerulea Jensen 1932.

Three cryptoendolithic, aerobic actinomycetes (AA-459T, AA-319 and AA-321) from antarctic sandstone were characterised phenotypically and by molecular taxonomic methods. The isolates had single spores on substrate mycelium, meso-diaminopimelic acid (m-DAP) and glycine (cell wall type II), a whole cell sugar pattern D (galactose, xylose, arabinose, glucose or rhamnose) and phospholipids of type PII (diphosphatidylglycerol, phosphatidylethanolamine, phosphatidylinositol). Their predominant fatty acids were iso-16:0 and iso-15:0 or 17:1omega8c, the menaquinone profile was complex with mainly MK10 (H4) and MK10 (H6).