Strains ofThe genus Deinococcus includes the species Deinococcus radiodurans, Deinococcus proteolyticus, Deinococcus radiophilus, and Deinococcus radiopugnans. The species Deinococcus erythromyxa was also included in this genus as a species incertae sedis by Brooks and Murray (3). The rod-shaped organisms of the species Deinococcus grandis are very closely related to the species of the genus Deinococcus, but were classified in the genus Deinococcus primarily on the basis of morphology (36). Recently, the type strains of these species were subjected to a complete 16s ribosomal DNA (rDNA) sequence analysis, which resulted in the reclassification of Deinococcus grandis and Deinococcus erythromyxa (41). The species Deinococcus grandis, despite its rod-shaped morphology, falls within the radiation of the genus Deinococcus and for this reason was classified as Deinococcus grandis. The species Deinococcus erythromyxa was known by Brooks and Murray (3) to have characteristics that were different from those of the other species of Deinococcus, and subsequent studies confirmed its chemotaxonomic distinctiveness, which reinforced the need for reclassification of this species (12). The species Deinococcus erythromyxa has been found to be phylogenetically very closely related to the gram-positive species Kocuria rosea, but due to the low DNA-DNA hybridization values between the two species, Kocuria erythromyxa was maintained as a separate speciesThe species of the genus Deinococcus are strictly aerobic, have optimum growth temperatures in the range from 25 to 35"C, produce reddish colonies, generally stain gram positive, have ornithine in the peptidoglycan, lack teichoic acids, possess menaquinone 8 as the major respiratory quinone, and are (41).