Abstract
A new aerobic, gram-positive, nonsporulating rod-shaped organism is described. Strain IFO 15245T (T = type strain) has the following characteristics: The menaquinone contains a side chain with 11 isoprenyl units; the guanine-plus-cytosine content of the DNA is 66.2 moI%; 2,4-diaminobutyric acid, glutamic acid, alanine, glycine, and γ -aminobutyric acid are present in the cell wall at a molar ratio of ca. 1:1:2:1:1; and glucose and galactose are also present in the cell wall. A comparison of partial 16S rRNA sequences revealed that IFO 15245T represents a distinct line of descent within the gram-positive bacteria with high guanine-plus-cytosine contents. The taxonomic characteristics of this organism are different from those of previously described aerobic, gram-positive, nonsporulating, rod-shaped bacteria. The name Leucobacter komagatae gen. nov., sp. nov., is proposed for this organism. The type strain is strain IFO 15245.