Abstract
On the basis of genotypic, chemotaxonomic, and phenotypic data, Flavobacterium odoratum was excluded from the emended genus Flavobacterium. In the present study, the known heterogeneity within this species was examined by a polyphasic approach that included DNA-rRNA hybridizations, a determination of DNA base ratios, DNA-DNA hybridizations, a numerical analysis of whole-cell protein patterns, a determination of cellular fatty acid compositions, and a phenotypic analysis. All of the methods revealed the presence of two distinct species. We propose that F. odoratum strains should be placed in a new genus, the genus Myroides, which comprises two species, Myroides odoratus comb. nov. and Myroides odoratimimus sp. nov.