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 1871 ^T (DSM 14627 ^T ) completed the analyses. Finally, our study revealed seven new species of Sorangium: Sorangium ambruticinum (Soce 176 ^T ; DSM 53252 ^T , NCCB 100639 ^T , sequence accession number ERS2488998), Sorangium arenae (Soce 1078 ^T ; DSM 105768 ^T , NCCB 100643 ^T , ERS2489002), Sorangium bulgaricum (Soce 321 ^T ; DSM 53339 ^T , NCCB 100640 ^T , ERS2488999), Sorangium dawidii (Soce 362 ^T ; DSM 105767 ^T , NCCB 100641 ^T , ERS2489000), Sorangium kenyense (Soce 375 ^T ; DSM 105741 ^T , NCCB 100642 ^T , ERS2489001), Sorangium orientale (Soce GT47 ^T ; DSM 105742 ^T , NCCB 100638 ^T , ERS2501484) and Sorangium reichenbachii (Soce 1828 ^T ; DSM 105769 ^T , NCCB 100644 ^T , ERS2489003).