Preliminary Taxonomic Study of Members of the Order Actinomycetales That Produce Antibiotics of the Aureolic Acid Group

Fifteen strains of Actinomycetales alleged to produce antibiotics belonging to the aureolic acid group, some of which are useful as antitumor agents, were compared taxonomically with Streptomyces cavourensis subsp. washingtonensis strain AUW-83, a strain which produces chromomycin antibiotics. Of these strains, Streptomyces aburaviensis ATCC 23869, Streptomyces minutiscleroticus ATCC 17757, and S. cavourensis subsp. washingtonensis strain AUW-83 are type strains. None of the strains were regarded as similar enough to strain AUW-83 to be placed in S. cavourensis subsp. washingtonensis. Bristol’s Streptomyces sp. C-14795, a chromomycin-producing strain which has not been previously reported in the literature, and S. aburaviensis ATCC 23869 appear to be different strains of the same species; the same is true of Streptomyces griseus no. 7 and Streptomyces sp. KCC S-1081 and of Streptomyces argillaceus F.D. no. 6590 and Streptomyces sp. M-198. However, to establish the identities and taxonomic relationships of these 15 strains, further studies involving direct comparisons with type and/or neotype strains of closely related nomenspecies will be required.