title: Rhodococcus zopfii sp. nov., a toxicant-degrading bacterium.
abstract: A toluene-degrading bacterial strain isolated from bioreactors was identified as a member of the genus Rhodococcus on the basis of the following characteristics: meso-diaminopimelic acid, arabinose, galactose, and glucose are the diagnostic cellular sugars; the mycolic acids contain 33 to 36 carbon atoms; and the formation of a branching mycelium is followed by marked fragmentation of the mycelium into irregular rod-shaped to coccoid units. DNA-DNA hybridization analyses performed with type strains of Rhodococcus species showed that this strain is less than 70% related to other species that have similar phenotypic characteristics. On the basis of these findings, we propose that this strain should be described as a new species, Rhodococcus zopfii, in honor of Wilhelm Friedrich Zopf. The type strain is strain T1.
authors.affiliation: Department of Microbiology, University of Washington, Seattle 98105.
authors.forename: M A
authors.initials: MA
authors.lastname: Stoecker
authors.forename: R P
authors.initials: RP
authors.lastname: Herwig
authors.forename: J T
authors.initials: JT
authors.lastname: Staley
mesh_terms: D001482:Base Composition; D009693:Nucleic Acid Hybridization; D012240:Rhodococcus / Q000235:genetics / Q000302:isolation & purification / Q000378:metabolism*