Streptomycin was discovered in the laboratory of Selman Waksman, although his PhD student Albert Schatz probably did most of the work on these strains of bacteria and the antibiotic they produce.

[2] The strains of this clade have homogeneous phenotypic properties[11] but show substantial genotypic heterogenecity based on genomic data.

[1] S. griseus strains have been isolated from various ecologies, including stell waste tips,[15] rhizosphere,[16] deep sea sediments[17] and coastal beach and dune sand systems.

[10] Recent studies have indicated the strains of S. griseus might be undergoing ecology-specific evolution, giving rise to genetic variation with the specific ecology, termed ecovars.

[4][20][21] The strains of this species are now known to be rich sources of antibiotics and to produce 32 different structural types of commercially significant secondary metabolites.

[25] S. griseus was designated the official New Jersey state microbe in legislation submitted by Senator Sam Thompson (R-12) in May 2017 and Assemblywoman Annette Quijano (D-20) in June 2017.

[26][27] The organism was chosen because it is a New Jersey native that made unique contributions to healthcare and scientific research worldwide.

Moreover, New Jersey was the home of Selman Waksman, who was awarded the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for his systematic studies of antibiotic production by S. griseus and other soil microbes.