title: Phylogenetic relationships and uncertain taxonomy of Pedomicrobium species.
abstract: The phylogenetic relationships among the species of the genus Pedomicrobium were studied by comparing their 16S rRNA sequences. The Pedomicrobium species form a coherent phylogenetic cluster within the genera of the hyphal budding bacteria in the alpha-Proteobacteria. The sequences of two strains of Pedomicrobium australicum were obtained from DNAs extracted from nonviable freeze-dried cells, which are the only source of material available, and were found to be almost identical (level of similarity, 99.9%). Overall, the Pedomicrobium species are closely related, with sequence similarities ranging from 96.2 to 99.9%. Pedomicrobium manganicum is phylogenetically the most distantly related species and exhibits the lowest similarity (96.2%) with Pedomicrobium americanum. Australian isolate Pedomicrobium sp. strain ACM 3067, P. americanum, and P. australicum are all very highly related, with similarities greater than 99%. Pedomicrobium sp. strain ACM 3067 is most closely related to P. australicum (level of similarity, 99.6%) and P. americanum (99.4%). These manganese-oxidizing species are more closely related to the iron-oxidizing species Pedomicrobium ferrugineum than to the other manganese-oxidizing species, P. manganicum. Taxonomic uncertainties resulting from the loss of the type culture of P. australicum are discussed.
authors.affiliation: Department of Microbiology, University of Queensland, Brisbane, Australia.
authors.forename: T L
authors.initials: TL
authors.lastname: Cox
authors.forename: L I
authors.initials: LI
authors.lastname: Sly
mesh_terms: D001419:Bacteria / Q000145:classification* / Q000235:genetics*; D004269:DNA, Bacterial / Q000235:genetics; D004275:DNA, Ribosomal / Q000235:genetics; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D010802:Phylogeny; D012329:RNA, Bacterial / Q000235:genetics; D012336:RNA, Ribosomal, 16S / Q000235:genetics; D013045:Species Specificity
chemical_list: D004269:DNA, Bacterial; D004275:DNA, Ribosomal; D012329:RNA, Bacterial; D012336:RNA, Ribosomal, 16S