Diversity and Origin of 'Desulfovibrio' Species: Phylogenetic Definition of aFamily

摘要

The different nutritional properties of several Desulfovibrio desulfuricansstrains suggest that either the strains are misclassified or there is a high degree of phenotypic diversity within the genus Desulfovibrio. The results of partial 16S rRNA and 23S rRNA sequence determinations demonstrated that Desulfovibrio desulfuricans ATCC 27774 and 'Desulfovibrio multispirans' are closely related to the type strain (strain Essex 6) and that strains ATCC 7757, Norway 4, and El Agheila are not. Therefore, these latter three strains of Desulfovibrio desulfuricans are apparently misclassified. A correlation between 16S rRNA sequence similarity and percentage of DNA relatedness showed that these five deep lineages are related at levels below the minimum genus level suggested by Johnson. It is proposed that this branch should be grouped into a single family, the Desulfovibrionaceae. The other branch includes other genera of sulfate-reducing bacteria and contains Desulfovibrio sapovorans and Desulfovibrio baarsii as separate, distantly related lineages. (Copyright (c) 1990, American Society for Microbiology.)