POLYAMINE DISTRIBUTION PATTERNS SERVE AS A PHENOTYPIC MARKER IN THE CHEMOTAXONOMY OF THE PROTEOBACTERIA

Polyamines of various genera of the class Proteobacteria were analyzed by high-performance liquid chromatography to determine if they can serve as taxonomic markers. The major polyamine of Zymomonas was homospermidine, whereas the Acetobacter-Gluconobacter complex contained spermidine, suggesting the presence of two different polyamine distribution patterns in the alpha subclass. Both the homospermidine-dominant type and the spermidine-dominant type were found in heterogeneous Sphingomonas species. Typical species belonging to the gamma subclass have their own unique polyamine pattern in Xanthomonas (spermidine), Azomonas (putrescine), Frateuria (spermidine), Alteromonas (putrescine-spermidine or spermidine), Shewanella (putrescine), Marinomonas (putrescine-spermidine or spermidine), Halomonas (putrescine-spermidine or spermidine), and Deleya (spermidine). Cadaverine was sporadically distributed in some species in these genera. Some strains classified into Rhizobacter, Zoogloea, Azomonas, or Alteromonas contained 2-hydroxyputrescine found exclusively in the beta subclass. Polyamine distribution patterns are genus- and (or) species-specific and can serve as a phenotypic marker in the chemotaxonomy of the Proteobacteria.