Paenochrobactrum gallinarii gen. nov., sp. nov., isolated from air of a duck barn, and reclassification of Pseudochrobactrum glaciei as Paenochrobactrum glaciei comb. nov.

A Gram-negative, rod-shaped, oxidase-positive, non-spore-forming, non-motile bacterium (Sa25(T)) was isolated from air of a duck barn. 16S rRNA gene and recA sequence analyses clearly placed the isolate in the vicinity of the Brucella-Ochrobactrum-Pseudochrobactrum group, with the closest relative being Pseudochrobactrum glaciei KMM 3858(T). This allocation was confirmed by analyses of the quinone system (ubiquinone Q-10), fatty acid data (major fatty acids C(18 : 1)omega7c and C(19 : 0) cyclo omega8c) and polar lipid profile (major components diphosphatidylglycerol, phosphatidylmonomethylethanolamine, phosphatidylethanolamine, phosphatidylglycerol, phosphatidylcholine and unknown aminolipid AL1; moderate amounts of three unknown polar lipids, L1-L3, an unknown aminolipid and an unknown aminophospholipid APL2).

Steroidobacter denitrificans gen. nov., sp. nov., a steroidal hormone-degrading gammaproteobacterium.

A denitrifying bacterium, designated strain FS(T), was isolated from anoxic digested sludge on oestradiol [17beta-oestra-1,3,5(10)-triene-3,17-diol] or testosterone (17beta-hydroxyandrost-4-en-3-one) as the sole source of carbon and energy with nitrate as the electron acceptor. Strain FS(T) represents the first known bacterium to grow anaerobically on both oestradiol (C-18) and testosterone (C-19). Steroidal hormones were degraded completely by nitrate reduction to dinitrogen monoxide, which was further reduced to dinitrogen in stationary-phase cultures.

Arenimonas malthae sp. nov., a gammaproteobacterium isolated from an oil-contaminated site.

A Gram-negative, rod-shaped bacterium (CC-JY-1(T)) was isolated on nutrient agar from a soil sample collected from an oil-contaminated site located in Chyai county, Taiwan. 16S rRNA gene sequence analysis demonstrated that this isolate is unique, showing 96.7 % sequence similarity to the type strain of Arenimonas donghaensis and similarities of 93.

Proposal of Viridibacillus gen. nov. and reclassification of Bacillus arvi, Bacillus arenosi and Bacillus neidei as Viridibacillus arvi gen. nov., comb. nov., Viridibacillus arenosi comb. nov. and Viridibacillus neidei comb. nov.

A polyphasic study was undertaken to clarify the taxonomic position of endospore-forming strains 433-D9, 433-E17 and 121-X1. BOX-PCR-generated fingerprints indicated that they may be members of a single species. 16S rRNA gene sequence similarity demonstrated that a representative of this group, 433-D9, is affiliated closely with Bacillus arvi DSM 16317(T) (100 %), Bacillus arenosi DSM 16319(T) (99.