- Volume 26, Issue 4, 1976

A total of 138 strains of slowly growing mycobacteria, which were received as members of 18 named species, were classified by scoring matching coefficients. Eighty-eight characters were tested for each strain; of these, 48 were useful for differentiating between strains. Mycobacterium tuberculosis and M. bovis were clearly separated from the other species. M. kansasii, M. marinum, M. gastri, and M. shimoidei were regarded as species clearly distinct from each other and from other species in the genus. The other species studied formed a large cluster within which M. szulgai and M. simiae were distinct. The remaining species could be divided into two large subclusters, one consisting of M. asiaticum, M. avium, M. intracellulare, M. scrofulaceum, M. gordonae, and M. xenopi, and the other consisting of M. nonchromogenicum, M. terrae, M. novum, and M. triviale. Within the former cluster, M. gordonae was regarded as a distinct species, and M. asiaticum and M. xenopi as fairly distinct species. In contrast to these, M. avium, M. intracellulare, and M. scrofulaceum were not clearly differentiated from each other and appeared to belong to a single species, for which the name M. avium has priority. Within the latter cluster, M. triviale appeared to be fairly distinct from the others. M. nonchromogenicum, M. terrae, and M. novum could not be differentiated from each other, and they appear to belong to a single species, for which the name M. nonchromogenicum has priority.

Eighteen strains of bacteria assigned to the “Pseudomonas alcaligenes” group were characterized. On the basis of phenotypic studies and deoxyribonucleic acid hybridization data, the strains could be accommodated in the two previously named species of the group, P. alcaligenes and P. pseudoalcaligenes. Both species were shown to be closely related to P. mendocina and P. stutzeri and more distantly related to the fluorescent species of the same genus.

A numerical taxonomic study of 138 Bacillus strains isolated from North Sea sediments is presented. The clustering process, based on 63 selected multistate features, resulted in the formation of two clusters separated by the Voges-Proskauer reaction. Further subdivision yielded six phenons, one of which corresponded to the conventional species Bacillus licheniformis. The strains, taken in the order in which they appeared in the dendrogram, exhibited a gradient in the frequency of positive answers to biochemical and physiological tests.

Two alternative proposals for abbreviations of names of genera are suggested for coding microbiological data and are compared to that of Johnson et al. (1976).

Many specialists have considered Moraxella kingae Henriksen and Bøvre not to belong to the genus Moraxella because it differs from the other Moraxella species in several characters and apparently does not have genetic affinities to the other species. For these reasons, the transfer of M. kingae to the genus Kingella gen. nov. in the family Neisseriaceae is proposed.

A new genus, Kingella, was recently proposed by Henriksen and Bøvre (1976) to accomodate the species previously named Moraxella kingae. We propose the inclusion of two further catalase-negative, oxidase-positive, saccharolytic species in this genus: K. indologenes sp. nov., comprising the saccharolytic strains described by van Bijsterveld (1970) and Sutton et al. (1972), type strain NCTC 10717, and K. denitrificans sp. nov., comprising strains of the TM1 group described by Hollis et al. (1972), type strain NCTC 10995. The range of the guanine plus cytosine contents of the deoxyribonucleic acids from the three species in the genus Kingella is 47.3 to 54.8 mol%. Two other catalase-negative, oxidase-positive species, Eikenella corrodens and Cardiobacterium hominis, differed in phenotypic characters and in deoxyribonucleic acid base composition from the Kingella species.

Three strains of marine bacteria that produce a polyanionic antibiotic substance and a red pigment similar to prodigiosin have been investigated from morphological, physiological, and biochemical standpoints. Their phenotypic characters, together with the low guanine plus cytosine contents of their deoxyribonucleic acids, place these strains in the genus Alteromonas Baumann et al. The main features of these strains are sufficiently consistent and different from those of the alteromonads previously described to justify placing them in a new species, for which the name Alteromonas rubra is proposed. The type strain is strain no. 18 (=NCMB 1890).

Bacterial leaf spot of Mallotus japonicus, first reported by Takimoto in 1930, was recently found in Japan, and the causal agent was studied taxonomically. The pathogen was assigned to the “Erwinia amylovora group.” The bacterium attacked M. japonicus, producing small, dark-brown spots on leaves as well as shoot blight. Japanese pear, peach, apple, plum, Japanese apricot, and chestnut trees could not be infected. The new isolates differed from E. amylovora in gelatin liquefaction and in ability to produce acid from xylose, mannose, cellobiose, glycerol, mannitol and to utilize formate. The new isolates are regarded as belonging to a new species, for which the name Erwinia mallotivora is proposed. Strain AMI (= NCPPB 2851) is designated as the type strain. E. mallotivora differs from Aplanobacter mollatii (sic) Takimoto, 1930, the validity of which is considered doubtful.

On the basis of their physiological and biochemical properties and their antigenic structures, as revealed by gel diffusion systems, Mycobacterium simiae Karasseva et al. 1965 and Mycobacterium habana Valdivia et al. 1971 are regarded as belonging to the same species. The correct name of this species, i.e., the legitimate name which has priority, is M. simiae. M. habana is thus a later subjective synonym of M. simiae.

A rod-shaped, saccharolytic strain of Neisseria isolated from the throat of a patient with pharyngitis and considered to represent a new subspecies of Neisseria elongata is described. The strain differs from N. elongata subsp. elongata in producing acid from glucose, in giving a strong catalase reaction, and in the consistency of colonies on agar media. The name N. elongata subsp. glycolytica is proposed for the new subspecies, of which strain 6171/75 (= ATCC 29315 = NCTC 11050) is the type.

Clostridium coccoides sp. nov. is described on the basis of 12 strains isolated from a number of fecal specimens from mice fed a high-lactose diet. The isolates are obligately anaerobic, gram-positive, sporeforming, nonmotile, coccobacillary to rod-shaped cells which occur singly, in pairs, and sometimes in chains. They differ from other clostridia principally in morphology; the nearly spherical form of the cells, particularly on agar media, is rather distinctive. The guanine plus cytosine (G+C) contents of the deoxyribonucleic acids of the new strains are 43 to 45 mol%, values similar to those of clostridia with high G+C contents, such as Clostridium sphenoides, C. oroticum, C. indolis, C. innocuum, C. barkeri, and C. nexile; however, C. coccoides can be clearly differentiated from these organisms by numerous biochemical characteristics and/or fermentation products. The type strain ofC. coccoides is CLC-1 (— ATCC 29236 = NCTC 11035).

On the basis of morphological and biochemical criteria, Actinomadura dassonvillei (Brocq-Rousseu) Lechevalier and Lechevalier, the former Nocardia dassonvillei (Brocq-Rousseu) Liegard and Landrieu, is removed from the genus Actinomadura Lechevalier and Lechevalier to a new genus, Nocardiopsis. It is proposed that this new genus harbors aerobic actinomycetes with a nocardioform substrate mycelium, an aerial mycelium, and a cell wall containing meso-2,6-diaminopimelic acid but not madurose or other diagnostically important carbohydrates. The type species is Nocardiopsis dassonvillei (Brocq-Rousseu) comb, nov., for which strain IMRU 509 (= ATCC 23218) is designated as the neotype. An outline of the characters which differentiate the new genus from the genera Nocardia, Actinomadura, and Streptomyces is given.

When Harrison and Hansen first described and named Bacteroides hypermegas in 1963, they did not designate a type strain for the species. All of the original isolates have been lost, but a strain with characteristics that agree closely with those reported by Harrison and Hansen has been deposited as a reference strain in the ATCC and the NCTC. This strain, ATCC 25560 (= NCTC 10570), is here described and is designated the neotype strain of Bacteriodes hypermegas Harrison and Hansen.

Three strains of an anaerobic spiral-shaped bacterium that possessed tufts of bipolar flagella were isolated from beagle dogs. The organisms are gram negative and saccharolytic and produce mainly acetic and succinic acids from glucose. The cells of these strains do not contain spores or axial fibrils. The isolates do not fit any described genus or species of anaerobic spiral-shaped bacteria. The generic name Anaerobiospirillum gen. nov. is proposed for the isolates; at present, the genus contains only one species, the type species Anaerobiospirillum succiniciproducens sp. nov. A. succinciproducens strain S411 (= ATCC 29305) is designated as the type strain of the species. The guanine plus cytosine content of the deoxyribonucleic acid of the type strain is 44 mol%.

The genetic relatedness of some nonmotile, ring-forming bacteria was determined by deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) base composition and base sequence homology experiments. It is proposed that four gas vacuolate strains with DNA base compositions of 67.1 to 68.8 mol% guanine plus cytosine (G + C) be placed in Microcyclus aquaticus. Nonmotile vibrioid bacteria of 51% G + C (Microcyclus flavus Raj and spirosoma strains 1 and 2) were found to be more closely related to one another than to M. aquaticus, and it is suggested that the taxonomic position of M. flavus be reconsidered in relation to the genus Spirosoma. None of the nonmotile ring-forming strains were found to be related to two Pseudomonadaceae. A motile variant of a gas vacuolated strain of M. aquaticus was isolated, indicating that immotility is a questionable taxonomic criterion for inclusion in the genus Microcyclus.

A homogeneous group of gram-negative, rod-shaped, and oxidase-positive bacterial strains, growing with small colonies, is described. In ordinary cultural-biochemical tests, the entity appeared most similar to Moraxella phenylpyrouvica, although it has so far been distinguished from that species by its simultaneous lack of urease and phenylalanine and tryptophan deaminase activities, inability to grow on solid medium at 4 to 10°C, relative salt sensitivity, and different behaviour on bile-containing media. The fatty acid composition was very similar to that of M. phenylpyrouvica, but the organism was distinguishable from the latter in containing a fatty alcohol, n-octadecanol, and mannose. Its genetic affinity to M. phenylpyrouvica and other recognized Moraxella species appeared very low, but was detectable by transformation. The guanine plus cytosine content of its deoxyribonucleic acid was 46.0 to 47.5 mol%, which is 2.5 to 4.0% higher than in M. phenylpyrouvica. The entity is considered a new species of genus Moraxella, and the Moraxella atlantae is proposed.

Two new strains of mushroom-shaped budding bacteria were isolated from a pulp mill oxidation lagoon. These isolates were morphologically similar to previous isolates from England and Russia. However, the carbon source utilization patterns and phage typing by newly isolated phages indicated that the four strains were not identical to one another. This was confirmed by deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA)/DNA homology studies in which reference DNA from a lagoon strain exhibited 39, 41, and 85% homologies with the other strains. Homology studies indicated that the mushroom-shaped budding bacteria are different from the members of the presently recognized genera of budding bacteria.

For a number of years, only a single species of the genus Microcyclus Ørskov 1928, namely M. aquaticus Ørskov, was reported in the literature. Eventually, two more species, M. major Gromov 1963 and M. flavus Raj 1970, were named and described. Brief mention was also made in the literature of a marine Microcyclus strain (Raj 1970) originally isolated in 1966 from the Pacific Ocean and tentatively, hence not validly, named M. marinus. To establish its taxonomic status, the marine isolate was studied extensively and compared with M. aquaticus ATCC 25396 and M. flavus ATCC 23276, both from freshwater habitats. On the basis of its similarity index, as determined by numerical taxonomy with these previously named species, the marine microcyclus is believed to belong to a new species, for which the name Microcyclus marinus is proposed. The type strain of M. marinus has been deposited in the American Type Culture Collection under the number 25205 and in the Deutsche Sammlung von Mikro-organismen Collection under the number 745.

Evidence is presented for the recognition of a new species of Streptococcus isolated from abscess foci in an Amazon freshwater dolphin, Inia geoffrensis. The organism appears to be immunologically distinct from members of the recognized Lancefield groups of streptococci. Antigens prepared by five different extraction procedures do not react with antisera to Streptococcus groups A to U, whereas antisera prepared against the new isolate react well with the extracted homologous antigens but not with antigens from groups A to U. Based on cultural, morphological, biochemical, and serological results, it is suggested that this isolate belongs to a new species for which we propose the name Streptococcus iniae. The type strain of this new species is strain PW (=ATCC 29178).