Actinomadura welshii, a new mycetoma agent in Mexico

A group of Actinomadura isolates obtained from human mycetoma cases was identified using nucleotide sequence analysis of part of the small RNA subunit gene. Most species were identified as Actinomadura madurae. However, one of the isolates, LIID-AQ337, showed inconclusive results. To determine its identity, genomic DNA from LIID-AQ337 was subjected to whole-genome sequencing using short and long-read sequencing, resulting in 22 contigs genomes. Comparative analysis against the current available genomes of other Actinomadura species suggested that it is a new species. We propose to name it Actinomadura welshii in honor of Oliverio Welsh, a Mexican dermatologist dedicated to mycetoma studies in Mexico.