Deoxyribonucleic Acid Relatedness Between Enterobacter cloacae and Enterobacter amnigenus sp. nov.

A deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA)-DNA hybridization study was carried out to determine the taxonomic position of a new group of enterobacters (group H3, Gavini et al. [Ann. Microbiol. (Inst. Pasteur) 127B:317-335, 1976]) previously studied by numerical taxonomy. The reassociation binding ratios with the group H3 strain ATCC 33072 ranged from 61 to 97%. With respect to DNA hybridization, this group, which represents a new species in the genus Enterobacter, Enterobacter amnigenus, is closely related (49 to 66%) to Enterobacter cloacae. A difference in genome size between E. amnigenus ATCC 33072 and E. cloacae Collection de l'Unité d'Écotoxicologie Microbienne (CUETM) 77-120 was observed after reciprocal binding: The genome of ATCC 33072 was 24% larger. E. amnigenus was defined from phenotypic and genetic data. The type strain of E. amnigenus is CUETM 77-118 (ATCC 33072).