A polyphasic approach leads to seven new species of the cellulose-decomposing genus Sorangium, Sorangium ambruticinum sp. nov., Sorangium arenae sp. nov., Sorangium bulgaricum sp. nov., Sorangium dawidii sp. nov., Sorangium kenyense sp. nov., Sorangium orientale sp. nov. and Sorangium reichenbachii sp. nov.

Seventy-three strains of Sorangium have been isolated from soil samples collected from all over the world. The strains were characterized using a polyphasic approach and phenotypic, genotypic and chemotype analyses clarified their taxonomic relationships. 16S rRNA, xynB1, groEL1, matrix-assisted laser desorption/ioniziation time-of-flight mass spectrometry and API-ZYM analyses were conducted. In addition, from selected representative strains, fatty acids, quinones and phospholipids were analysed. In silico DNA-DNA hybridization and DNA-DNA hybridization against the current type species of Sorangiumcellulosum strain Soce 1871T (DSM 14627T ) completed the analyses. Finally, our study revealed seven new species of Sorangium: Sorangium ambruticinum (Soce 176T ; DSM 53252T , NCCB 100639T , sequence accession number ERS2488998), Sorangium arenae (Soce 1078T ; DSM 105768T , NCCB 100643T , ERS2489002), Sorangium bulgaricum (Soce 321T ; DSM 53339T , NCCB 100640T , ERS2488999), Sorangium dawidii (Soce 362T ; DSM 105767T , NCCB 100641T , ERS2489000), Sorangium kenyense (Soce 375T ; DSM 105741T , NCCB 100642T , ERS2489001), Sorangium orientale (Soce GT47T ; DSM 105742T , NCCB 100638T , ERS2501484) and Sorangium reichenbachii (Soce 1828T ; DSM 105769T , NCCB 100644T , ERS2489003).