TAXONOMIC STUDY OF BACTERIA ISOLATED FROM PLANTS - PROPOSAL OF SPHINGOMONAS-ROSA SP-NOV, SPHINGOMONAS-PRUNI SP-NOV, SPHINGOMONAS-ASACCHAROLYTICA SP-NOV, AND SPHINGOMONAS-MALI SP-NOV

The taxonomic positions of 10 strains of 3-ketolactose-forming bacteria which were isolated from the roots of plants (Rosa sp,, Psychotria nairobiensis, Ardisia crispa, Prunus persica, and apple trees) were investigated. The DNA base compositions of these strains ranged from 64.0 to 65.7 mol%, the isoprenoid quinone of each strain was ubiquinone 10, 3-hydroxy fatty acids were lacking in the cellular fatty acids of these organisms, and all of the strains contained a sphingolipid with the long chain base dihydrosphingosin. These are characteristics of the genus Sphingomonas. On the basis of morphological, physiological, and chemotaxonomic characteristics, together with DNA-DNA hybridization and 16S ribosomal DNA sequence comparison data, we propose the following four new species of the genus Sphingomonas: Sphingomonas rosa (type strain, IFO 15208) for the strains isolated from rose plants and formerly named [Agrobacterium rhizogenes]; Sphingomonas pruni (type strain, IFO 15498) for the strains isolated from Prunus persica; and Sphingomonas asaccharolytica (type strain, IFO 15499) and Sphingomonas mali (type strain, IFO 15500) for the strains isolated from apple trees, Two strains which were isolated from Psychotria nairobiensis and formerly named [Chromobacterium lividum] were identified as Sphingomonas yanoikuyae strains.