Mycolicibacterium nivoides sp. Nov isolated from a peat bog

A fast-growing, non-chromogenic, acid-fast-staining bacterium (DL90^T) was isolated from a peat bog in northern Minnesota. On the basis of 16S rRNA gene sequence similarity (99.8 % identity with Mycolicibacterium septicum and 98 % with Mycolicibac-terium peregrinum) and chemotaxonomic data (fatty acid content), strain DL90^T represents a member of the genus Mycolici-bacterium. Physiological tests (growth curves, biofilm formation, antibiotic sensitivity, colony morphologies and heat tolerance) and biochemical analysis (arylsulfatase activity and fatty acid profiles) distinguish DL90^T from its closest relative M. septicum. Phylogenomic reconstruction of the ‘Fortuitium–Vaccae’ clade, digital DNA–DNA hybridization (DDH) values of 61 %, and average nucleotide identity (ANI) values of approximately 95 % indicate that DL90^T is likely to be diverged from M. septicum. Thus, we propose that DL90^T represents a novel species, given the name Mycolicibacterium nivoides with the type strain being isolate DL90^T (=JCM 32796^T=NCCB 100660^T).