The 16S rRNA gene sequences of 19 strains covering 97% of the molecules were determined for the members of the family Rhizobiaceae and related bacteria by PCR and DNA sequencer. The three biovars of Agrobacterium were located separately, whereas Agrobacterium rubi clustered with A. tumefaciens. Phylogenetic locations for the species of the genera Rhizobium, Sinorhizobium, Agrobacterium, Phylobacterium, Mycoplana (M. dimorpha), Ochrobactrum, Brucella and Rochalimaea (a rickettsia) were intermingled with each other with the similarity values higher than 92%. The family Rhizobiaceae should be redefined including the above-mentioned genera despite the ability for plant association and nitrogen fixation. Bradyrhizobium japonicum and Mycoplana bullata were far remote from the other species and should be excluded from this family.

Marinilactibacillus psychrotolerans gen. nov., sp. nov., a halophilic and alkaliphilic marine lactic acid bacterium isolated from marine organisms in temperate and subtropical areas of Japan A novel marine lactic acid rod bacterium has been described for eight strains isolated from living and decomposing marine organisms collected from temperate and subtropical areas of Japan. The isolates were Gram-positive, catalase-negative, non-sporulating and motile with peritrichous flagella. They were slightly halophilic, highly halotolerant and alkaliphilic; the optimum NaCl concentration for growth was 2?0-3?75 % (w/v) with a range from 0 to 17?0-20?5 % (depending on the strain); the optimum pH was between 8?0 and 9?5 with a range from 6?0 to 10?0. They were psychrotolerant, growing well at 21?8˚C with a maximum at 40-45˚C and the optimum at 37-40˚C. Lactate yields were 87-100 % per consumed glucose; the residual products were formate, acetate and ethanol with a molar ratio of approximately 2 : 1 : 1. The product composition was markedly affected by the pH of fermentation medium; at higher pH, the yield of lactate decreased (60-65 % at pH 9?0) and that of other products increased conversely. The cell-wall peptidoglycan type was type A4b, Orn-D-Glu, whereas that of the genus Alkalibacterium, the phylogenetically closest lactic acid bacterium, was type A4b, Orn-D-Asp. The major cellular fatty acids were C16 : 0, C16 : 1D9, C18 : 0 and C18 : 1D9 (oleic acid). The G+C content of the DNA was 34?6-36?2 mol%. The eight isolates were phenotypically homogeneous and formed a single genomic species. The 16S rRNA gene sequence analysis indicated that the isolates constituted an independent phylogenetic lineage within the radiation of lactic acid bacteria with 96?2 % similarity to the genus Alkalibacterium. The secondary structure and the nucleotide sequence of the V6 region of the 16S rRNA were characteristic of the organism among other related lactic acid genera. On the bases of phenotypic and phylogenetic distinctness, the organism was proposed to belong to a new genus and species, Marinilactibacillus psychrotolerans gen. nov., sp. nov. The type strain, M13-2 T (G+C=36?2 mol%), has been deposited in the IAM, NBRC, NCIMB and NRIC culture collections as IAM 14980

The taxonomic positions of 10 strains of 3-ketolactose-forming bacteria which were isolated from the roots of plants (Rosa sp., Psychotria nairobiensis, Ardisiu crispa, Prunus persica, and apple trees) were investigated. The DNA base compositions of these strains ranged from 64.0 to 65.7 mol%, the isoprenoid quinone of each strain was ubiquinone 10,3-hydroxy fatty acids were lacking in the cellular fatty acids of these organisms, and all of the strains contained a sphingolipid with the long-chain base dihydrosphingosin. These are characteristics of the genus Sphingomonas. On the basis of morphological, physiological, and chemotaxonomic characteristics, together with DNA-DNA hybridization and 16s ribosomal DNA sequence comparison data, we propose the following four new species of the genus Sphingomonas: Sphingomonas rosa (type strain, IF0 15208) for the strains isolated from rose plants and formerly named [Agrobacterium rhizogenes] ; Sphingomonas pruni (type strain, IF0 15498) for the strains isolated from Prunus persica; and Sphingomonas asaccharolytica (type strain, IF0 15499) and Sphingomonas mali (type strain, IF0 15500) for the strains isolated from apple trees. Two strains which were isolated from Psychotria nairobiensis and formerly named [Chromobacterium lividurn] were identified as Sphingomonas yanoikuyae strains.

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