A new
Streptomyces
species discovered from Sarawak mangrove soil is described, with the proposed name –
Streptomyces monashensis
sp. nov. (strain MUSC 1J
T
). Taxonomy status of MUSC 1J
T
was determined via polyphasic approach. Phylogenetic and chemotaxonomic properties of strain MUSC 1J
T
were in accordance with those known for genus
Streptomyces
. Based on phylogenetic analyses, the strains closely related to MUSC 1J
T
were
Streptomyces corchorusii
DSM 40340
T
(98.7%),
Streptomyces olivaceoviridis
NBRC 13066
T
(98.7%),
Streptomyces canarius
NBRC 13431
T
(98.6%) and
Streptomyces coacervatus
AS-0823
T
(98.4%). Outcomes of DNA–DNA relatedness between strain MUSC 1J
T
and its closely related type strains covered from 19.7 ± 2.8% to 49.1 ± 4.3%. Strain MUSC 1J
T
has genome size of 10,254,857 bp with DNA G + C content of 71 mol%. MUSC 1J
T
extract exhibited strong antioxidative activity up to 83.80 ± 4.80% in the SOD assay, with significant cytotoxic effect against colon cancer cell lines HCT-116 and SW480.
Streptomyces monashensis
MUSC 1J
T
(=DSM 103626
T
= MCCC 1K03219
T
) could potentially be a producer of novel bioactive metabolites; hence discovery of this new species may be highly significant to the biopharmaceutical industry as it could lead to development of new and useful chemo-preventive drugs.