Renaming of Agrobacterium larrymoorei Bouzar and Jones 2001 as Rhizobium larrymoorei (Bouzar and Jones 2001) comb. nov.

This article presents a taxonomic reclassification of Agrobacterium larrymoorei, a bacterial species that causes gall formation on Ficus benjamina plants. The author proposes renaming this species as Rhizobium larrymoorei based on phylogenetic and nomenclatural considerations. The reclassification stems from earlier work showing that Agrobacterium species are phylogenetically nested within the Rhizobium genus and that the genus Agrobacterium is artificial, defined primarily by pathogenicity traits carried on transferable plasmid genes rather than fundamental genetic differences. Following International Code of Nomenclature guidelines, the author advocates merging Agrobacterium into Rhizobium to better reflect natural evolutionary relationships and polyphasic taxonomy. The type strain remains ATCC 51759T with associated reference designations. This nomenclatural change aligns with broader genus-level revisions that consolidated multiple Agrobacterium and related species into Rhizobium.

Key findings

• Agrobacterium larrymoorei is reclassified as Rhizobium larrymoorei comb. nov. based on phylogenetic analysis and nomenclatural consistency
• The Agrobacterium genus is artificial, defined primarily by plasmid-borne pathogenicity genes rather than legitimate taxonomic differences
• 16S rDNA sequence analysis shows A. larrymoorei clusters within Rhizobium species rather than forming a distinct genetic lineage
• This reclassification reflects polyphasic taxonomy principles and aligns with broader consolidation of Agrobacterium species into Rhizobium