Numerical analysis of fatty acid patterns of coryneform bacteria and related taxa

Abstract

A numerical study of the fatty acid patterns of 263 reference strains belonging to the genera Arthrobacter, Aureobacterium, Brevibacterium, Cellulomonas, Clavibacter, Corynebacterium, Curtobacterium, Erysipelothrix, Microbacterium, and Rhodococcus was undertaken based on cultural and chemical standardized techniques. Clustering was by the unweighted pair group method using the correlation coefficient. Two cluster groups could be defined at the 62% level, one containing strains characterized by saturated and monounsaturated fatty acids and the second group characterized by iso- and anteiso-branched fatty acids. Within the first cluster group, a clear separation of strains assigned to the genera Rhodococcus, Erysipelothrix, and Corynebacterium could be achieved. Furthermore, strains of the species Corynebacterium glutamicum, Corynebacterium ammoniagenes, Corynebacterium diphtheriae, 'Corynebacterium ulcerans,' and Erysipelothrix rhusiopathiae could be found in distinct clusters, based on quantitative differences in fatty acid patterns. Within the second cluster group, a high degree of similarity between the genera Aureobacterium, Cellulomonas, Clavibacter, Curtobacterium, and Microbacterium found in phylogenetically based studies could be shown also by fatty acid patterns. Several strains of the plant pathogenic coryneform bacteria assigned to the genus Clavibacter and Curtobacterium flaccumfaciens were found within one cluster, indicating a high similarity between these genera. Strains of the genus Arthrobacter were grouped into three adjacent clusters and could not be differentiated by fatty acid patterns. The results of the study are essentially in line with a previously published numerical survey and with other chemotaxonomic and genetic data. Thus, quantitative fatty acid patterns are recommended for identification of several coryneform bacterial genera. In some cases an identification at the species level is possible.Key words: fatty acid analysis, coryneform bacteria, differentiation, numerical analysis.

Thauera mechernichensis sp. nov., an aerobic denitrifier from a leachate treatment plant

“…For whole-cell fatty acid analysis, the bacteria were grown on TSB agar for 48 h at 28 "C and two to four loopfuls of bacterial cells were scraped from the Petri dish. Fatty acid methyl esters were obtained by saponification, methylation and extraction of the cells as described previously (Kampfer & Kroppenstedt, 1996). The fatty acid methyl ester mixtures were separated using the model 589814 microbial identification system (Sasser, 1990).…”

Gordonia polyisoprenivorans from groundwater contaminated with landfill leachate in a subtropical area: characterization of the isolate and exopolysaccharide production

“…Amino acid analysis of wholecell hydrolysates followed the procedures described by Stanek and Roberts (39). The fatty acids methyl esters were prepared from 40-80 mg wet cells and analyzed as previously described (19,32,35) and trimethylsilylated devivatives of mycolic acids according to Klatte et al (23). Genomic DNA extraction and PCR amplification was performed as described by Rainey et al (33).…”

Erythrobacter citreus sp. nov., a yellow-pigmented bacterium that lacks bacteriochlorophyll a, isolated from the western Mediterranean Sea.

“…The polyamine pattern of strain RE35F\1 T contained predominantly spermidine and lacked sym-homospermidine (Vybiral et al, 1999), which supports its close relationship with Erythrobacter and Erythromicrobium (Hamana & Takeuchi, 1998). Fatty acid analysis by GLC, according to the standard protocol of the Microbial Identification system (MIDI) as described by Ka$ mpfer & Kroppenstedt (1996), showed that the major fatty acid of the cellular lipids of RE35F1 T and RE10F\45 is octadecenoic acid (18 : 1 ω7c) ; 2-hydroxymyristic acid (14 : 0 2-OH) was also present in both strains (Table 1). Furthermore, the polar lipid fingerprints of RE35F1 T and RE10F\45 obtained by twodimensional TLC (Vybiral et al, 1999) were essentially identical and, again, highly similar to those of Erythrobacter litoralis DSM 8509 T and Erythrobacter longus LMG 3982 T (E. B. M. Denner, unpublished Strains : 1, Erythrobacter citreus (n l 2) ; 2, Erythrobacter litoralis DSM 8509 T ; 3, Erythrobacter longus LMG 3982 T ; 4, Erythromicrobium ramosum DSM 8510 T .…”