- Volume 59, Issue 8, 2009

Strain CN83T, a Gram-negative, aerobic, rod-shaped bacterium, was isolated from sediment of the East China Sea. The isolate was catalase- and oxidase-positive and cells were motile by means of polar flagella. The DNA G+C content was 44.9 mol%. The major fatty acids were C16 : 1 ω7c and/or iso-C15 : 0 2-OH, C16 : 0, C18 : 1 ω7c, C14 : 0 and C12 : 0. 16S rRNA gene sequence analysis showed that strain CN83T belonged to the genus Vibrio and had the highest sequence similarity to Vibrio agarivorans (98.4 %) and Vibrio campbellii (97.8 %). Phylogenetic analysis revealed that strain CN83T formed a monophyletic clade adjacent to the type strain of V. agarivorans. The DNA–DNA hybridization values of strain CN83T with V. agarivorans DSM 13756T and V. campbellii DSM 19270T were 44.6 and 25.5 %, respectively. On the basis of the phenotypic and genotypic data, strain CN83T represents a novel species of the genus Vibrio, for which the name Vibrio hangzhouensis sp. nov. is proposed. The type strain is CN83T (=CGMCC 1.7062T=JCM 15146T).

Three strains of a novel yeast species, Candida materiae sp. nov., were isolated from rotting wood in an Atlantic rain forest site in Brazil. Analysis of the sequences of the D1/D2 domains of the large-subunit rDNA showed that this species belonged to the Spathaspora clade and was related to Candida jeffriesii and Spathaspora passalidarum. Unlike C. jeffriesii and S. passalidarum, C. materiae sp. nov. did not ferment xylose. The type strain of C. materiae sp. nov. is UFMG-07-C15.1BT (=CBS 10975T=CBMAI 956T).

Huanglongbing is one of the most severe diseases of citrus worldwide and is associated with ‘Candidatus (Ca.) Liberibacter africanus’ in Africa, ‘Ca. Liberibacter asiaticus’ in Asia and the Americas (Brazil, USA and Cuba) and ‘Ca. Liberibacter americanus’ (Lam) in Brazil. In the absence of axenic cultures, genetic information on liberibacters is scarce. The sequences of the entire 23S rRNA and 5S rRNA genes from Lam have now been obtained, using a consensus primer designed on known tRNAMet sequences of rhizobia. The size of the Lam genome was determined by PFGE, using Lam-infected periwinkle plants for bacterial enrichment, and was found to be close to 1.31 Mbp. In order to determine the number of ribosomal operons on the Lam genome, probes designed to detect the 16S rRNA gene and the 3′ end of the 23S rRNA gene were developed and used for Southern hybridization with I-CeuI-treated genomic DNA. Our results suggest that there are three ribosomal operons in a circular genome. Lam is the first liberibacter species for which such data are available.

Minimal standards for describing new taxa within the aerobic endospore-forming bacteria are proposed, following Recommendation 30b of the Bacteriological Code (1990 Revision). These minimal standards are recommended as guidelines to assist authors in the preparation of descriptions for novel taxa. They encourage broad polyphasic characterization and the construction of descriptions that are practically useful in routine diagnostic laboratories. The proposals have been endorsed by the Subcommittee on the Taxonomy of the Genus Bacillus and Related Organisms of the International Committee on Systematics of Prokaryotes.

The genus Corallococcus was separated from the genus Myxococcus mainly on the basis of differences in morphology and consistency of swarms and fruiting bodies of the respective members. Phylogenetic, chemotaxonomic and physiological evidence is presented here that underpins the separate status of these phylogenetically neighbouring genera. Emended descriptions of the two genera are presented. The data also suggest that the species Corallococcus macrosporus belongs to the genus Myxococcus. To the best of our knowledge, the type strains of the species Myxococcus macrosporus and Myxococcus stipitatus are not available from any established culture collection or any other source. A Request for an Opinion is made regarding the proposal that strain Cc m8 (=DSM 14697 =CIP 109128) be formally recognized as the neotype strain for the species Myxococcus macrosporus, replacing the designated type strain Windsor M271T, and that strain Mx s8 (=DSM 14675 =JCM 12634) be formally recognized as the neotype strain for the species Myxococcus stipitatus, replacing the designated type strain Windsor M78T.