Abstract

In spite of high morphological and phylogenetic diversity, biotechnological and economic importance of actinomycetes, there is a limited number of studies in sediments of Eastern Mediterranean Sea, especially in relation with environmental parameters. The actinomycetes were isolated from deep-basins of Eastern Mediterranean Sea (72–1235 m depths) with regional variability. They were tested physiologically using commercial kits and found that they utilized proteins rather than carbohydrates. According to 16S rRNA gene sequence analysis, highly diverse <em>Streptomycetes</em> strains with two of them representing new taxa and also the genera <em>Nocardiopsis</em> and <em>Pseudonocardia</em> were obtained. Geochemical parameters of the sediments together with enzymatic activity result