I'm sorry but I don't know such a kit.

However, sequencing of PCR-amplified 16S rRNA gene could certainly help and could be done in most microbiology laboratories.

Congrats to selection of recently topics, in order the actinomycetes was very late growing microbes. i have some pasted the link in your interest topic it very use full your research

http://ocw.unu.edu/international-network-on-water-environment-and-health/unu-inweh-course-1-mangroves/actinomycetes.pdf

http://naldc.nal.usda.gov/download/24576/PDF

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC380882/pdf/applmicro00056-0201.pdf

http://www.hpa.org.uk/webc/hpawebfile/hpaweb_c/1317131061186

http://link.springer.com/article/10.1007%2Fs13213-012-0504-x#page-1

Hello

For soil actinomycetes ,rapid identification kit may no be available as the organism is slow grower. One easy approach is Coverslip method and SEM studies where morphology of spores and their arrangement can be used for genus identifcation . Further it can be subjected for 16 SrRNA studies

Hi, actinomycetes generally require 3-7 days to grow on solid media and promote the formation of aerial spores. Certain strains may take even long duration to grow (also due to limitation on media formulation or culturing condition). As suggested by Shobha, cover slip culture technique with microscopy observation can help for general identification up to genus level. You can easily check and compare the aerial spore structures with Bergey's Manual. The best approach is still by 16S rDNA gene PCR and sequencing analysis, which you can compare to published sequence in database.

Thanks very much, everyone for your contribution.

You could also check with Biolog... they have a rapid ID kit based on the metabolism of the organism and compared to their library of organisms (roughly 2,500 organisms right now). It only costs about $10-11 per test, takes about a minute to set up, and you would need a plate-reader. I just don't know if actinomycetes are amongst those organisms in their library and the slow growth may also be a problem. Here's a link to a quick video that the sales rep sent me: http://www.biolog.com/videos.php

Hi, Biolog system is helpful for identification of medical strains of actinomycetes as their database for environmental strains are still not very intensive. You may check their website or sales representative on the database for GP plates (gram positive bacteria) for more information. However, this system is very powerful for Phenotype MicroArrays studies.

Thanks very much, Tarah and Sui. You are right about identification of medical strains, Sui. Just like API 20A which has only medical strains of Actinomycetes apart from anaerobes in the database. I just need some rapid identification kit for environmental actinomycetes to be sure I am working with different isolates before identifying them using 16SrRNA gene sequencing analysis