Phylogenetic diversity of acidophilic actinomycetes from Malaysia

Actinomycetes produce various physiologically active compounds, including antibiotics. Although the discovery of new active compounds has slowed recently, some novel compounds from non-soil borne actinomycetes; for example, marine actinomycetes, have been reported.¹ Thus, discoveries of new taxa will expand the diversity of resources available for screening programs. Basilio et al.² reported that actinomycetes isolated in alternative selections of pH and salinity present a significant capacity to produce compounds with antimicrobial activity. Like other actinomycetes, marine actinomycetes and other rarely targeted strains, for example, acidophilic actinomycetes, are expected to produce a diverse array of active compounds.

Research on acidophilic actinomycetes has been carried out since the 1960s.^{3, 4} Recently, several new taxa of acidophilic actinomycetes have been described. In 2003, Kim et al.⁵ described the genus Streptacidiphilus belonging to the family Streptomycetaceae. The genera Actinospica and Catenulispora were described in 2006 by Cavaletti et al.⁶ and Busti et al.,⁷ respectively. At the same time, the suborder Catenulisporineae, which includes Actinospica and Catenulispora but no neutrophilic genera, was described.⁶ Some species of Streptomyces were also described as acidophilus.^{8, 9}

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