Phenylobacterium falsum sp. nov., an Alphaproteobacterium isolated from a nonsaline alkaline groundwater, and emended description of the genus Phenylobacterium.

A Gram-negative bacterium designated AC-49T was isolated from an alkaline groundwater with a pH 11.4. This organism formed rod-shaped cells, was strictly aerobic, catalase and oxidase positive, with an optimum growth temperature of 35 degrees C and an optimum pH value of 8.