International Journal of Systematic and Evolutionary Microbiology (2001), 51, 169–170
NOTE
Printed in Great Britain
Arthrobacter siderocapsulatus Dubinina and
Zhdanov 1975AL is a later subjective synonym
of Pseudomonas putida (Trevisan 1889) Migula
1895AL
Jongsik Chun, Moon-Soo Rhee, Jang-Il Han and Kyung Sook Bae
Author for correspondence : Kyung Sook Bae. Tel : j82 42 860 4610. Fax : j82 42 860 4677.
e-mail : ksbae!mail.kribb.re.kr
Korean Collection for
Type Cultures, Korea
Research Institute of
Bioscience and
Biotechnology, PO Box
115, Yusong, Taejon
305-600, Republic of
Korea
The taxonomic position of Arthrobacter siderocapsulatus Dubinina and
Zhdanov 1975AL was investigated using 16S rDNA, fatty acid and phenotypic
analyses. The type strain (NCIMB 11286T) showed 9985 % 16S rDNA similarity to
the type strain of Pseudomonas putida. Phenotypic properties of the two
strains were compared using API 20NE and BIOLOG kits. Identical reactions
were recorded for all tests, except for assimilation of malonic acid. The two
strains also showed almost identical cellular fatty acid profiles. On the basis of
evidence presented in this and earlier studies, it is proposed that Arthrobacter
siderocapsulatus is a later subjective synonym of Pseudomonas putida
(Trevisan 1889) Migula 1895AL.
Keywords : Arthrobacter siderocapsulatus, Pseudomonas putida, 16S rDNA
sequencing, reclassification
Arthrobacter siderocapsulatus was proposed by
Dubinina & Zhdanov (1975) to accommodate motile
iron bacteria isolated from lake water. The authors
considered the species would previously have been
designated ‘ Siderocapsa eusphaera ’ and its assignment
to the genus Arthrobacter was based primarily on
morphological features in the developmental cycle and
its capacity for Mn and Fe oxidation. The name was
subsequently included in the Approved Lists of Bacterial Names (Skerman et al., 1980). However, it was
later listed as a species incertae sedis in Bergey’s
Manual of Systematic Bacteriology (Keddie et al.,
1986). Some of the phenotypic properties of A.
siderocapsulatus differ from Arthrobacter sensu stricto
(Jones & Keddie, 1992 ; Koch et al., 1995) : cells are
Gram-negative, able to grow under microaerophilic
conditions and produce acid from glucose. Collins
(1986) also pointed out that the organism is misclassified as it has ubiquinone-9 and straight-chain
saturated, monounsaturated, cyclopropane ring and 3hydroxy fatty acids, which are typical of Gramnegative bacteria. Similar results were reported by
Amadi & Alderson (1992). In the present investigation,
16S rDNA sequence and phenotypic data were
.................................................................................................................................................
The GenBank accession number for the 16S rDNA sequence of Arthrobacter
siderocapsulatus NCIMB 11286T is AF226713.
employed to elucidate the taxonomic position of A.
siderocapsulatus.
A. siderocapsulatus NCIMB 11286T (l BKM-B N
1122) was grown on Tryptic Soy Agar (TSA ; Difco) at
30 mC. The primary structure of the 16S rDNA
was determined following the method of Chun &
Goodfellow (1995). An almost complete sequence was
obtained (1442 bp). A similarity search against nucleotide sequences held in the GenBank database using the
 program indicated that the 16S rDNA sequence
of A. siderocapsulatus NCIMB 11286T was almost
identical to that of the type strain of Pseudomonas
putida (accession no. D37923 ; Yamamoto & Harayama, 1995) (99n85 % nucleotide similarity, corresponding to two nucleotide differences). To rule out the
possibility of contamination, we also determined the
16S rDNA sequence of A. siderocapsulatus DSM
7314T, and found the two sequences to be identical.
Phenotypic profiles of A. siderocapsulatus NCIMB
11286T and P. putida KCTC 1751T (l ATCC 12633T)
were investigated in duplicate using API 20NE
(BioMe! rieux) and BIOLOG GN2 kits, following the
manufacturers ’ instructions. The two strains showed
identical reactions for tests included in the API 20NE
kit. Similarly, among 95 carbon sources included in the
BIOLOG kit, a clear discrepancy was found for only
one substrate, namely malonic acid ; a positive reaction
01522 # 2001 IUMS
169
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J. Chun and others
Table 1. Cellular fatty acid composition (%) of A.
siderocapsulatus NCIMB 11286T and P. putida KCTC
1751T
synonym of Pseudomonas putida (Trevisan 1889)
Migula 1895AL.
.................................................................................................................................................
References
Only values over 1 % are given.
Fatty acids
NCIMB 11286
10 : 0 3-OH
12 : 0
12 : 0 2-OH
12 : 0 3-OH
16 : 1
16 : 0
17 : 0 cyclo
18 : 1
3n8
1n9
5n0
4n6
32n6
27n4
1n7
21n6
Amadi, E. N. & Alderson, G. (1992). Lipids of Arthrobacter
T
T
KCTC 1751
3n7
3n2
4n0
4n3
35n9
27n0
1n6
19n4
was recorded for P. putida KCTC 1751T but not for A.
siderocapsulatus NCIMB 11286T. The two type strains
were then subjected to cellular fatty acid analysis using
the Sherlock Microbial Identification System (MIDI),
following the manufacturer ’s instructions. They
showed almost identical cellular fatty acid profiles
(Table 1). The fatty acid profile of A. siderocapsulatus
NCIMB 11286T was slightly different from those
reported by Collins (1986) and Amadi & Alderson
(1992). This discrepancy may be attributed to the
growth media and culture conditions used for fatty
acid analysis.
In addition to the new findings presented in this study,
the original description of A. siderocapsulatus by
Dubinina & Zhdanov (1975) provides further evidence
for its assignment to P. putida ; the cells are Gramnegative, rods or cocci (pleomorphic), motile by polar
lophotrichous flagella, catalase-positive, and have
DNA with a GjC content of 60n8 mol % (Palleroni,
1992). Published chemotaxonomic properties (Collins,
1986 ; Amadi & Alderson, 1992) of A. siderocapsulatus
also matched those of P. putida strains (Oyaizu &
Komagata, 1983). Thus it is clear from genetic,
chemical and phenotypic evidence that A. siderocapsulatus NCIMB 11286T belongs to P. putida. We
therefore propose that Arthrobacter siderocapsulatus
Dubinina & Zhdanov 1975AL is a later subjective
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International Journal of Systematic and Evolutionary Microbiology 51
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