Downloaded from www.microbiologyresearch.org by IP: 54.70.40.11 On: Thu, 07 Feb 2019 19:27:44 International Journal of Systematic and Evolutionary Microbiology (2002), 52, 1133–1139 DOI : 10.1099/ijs.0.02107-0 NOTE Gordonia westfalica sp. nov., a novel rubber- degrading actinomycete 1 Institut fu  r Mikrobiologie, Universita  t Mu  nster, Corrensstrasse 3, 48149 Mu  nster, Germany 2 Department of Biological Sciences, Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology, Gusungdong, Yusung, Taejon, Republic of Korea 3 Deutsche Sammlung von Mikroorganismen und Zellkulturen, Mascheroder Weg 1b, D-38124 Braunschweig, Germany Alexandros Linos, 1 Mahmoud M. Berekaa, 1 Alexander Steinbu  chel, 1 Kwang Kyu Kim, 2,3 Cathrin Spro  er 3 and Reiner M. Kroppenstedt 3 Author for correspondence : Reiner M. Kroppenstedt. Tel : 49 531 2616 227. Fax: 49 531 2616 418. e-mail : kdtdsmz.de A cis-1,4-polyisoprene-degrading bacterium (strain Kb2 T ) was isolated from foul water taken from the inside of a deteriorated automobile tyre found on a farmer’s field in Westfalia, Germany. The strain was aerobic, Gram-positive, exhibited orange smooth and rough colonies on complex nutrient agar, produced elementary branching hyphae that fragmented into rod/coccus-like elements and showed chemotaxonomic markers which were consistent with its classification within the genus Gordonia, i.e. the presence of meso- diaminopimelic acid, arabinose and galactose in whole-cell hydrolysates (cell- wall chemotype IV), N-glycolylmuramic acid in the peptidoglycan wall, a fatty- acid pattern composed of unbranched saturated and monounsaturated fatty acids plus tuberculostearic acid, mycolic acids comprising 56–60 carbon atoms and MK-9(H 2 ) as the only menaquinone. The 16S rDNA sequence of strain Kb2 T was found to be most similar to the 16S rDNA sequences of the type strains of Gordonia alkanivorans (DSM 44369 T ) and Gordonia nitida (KCTC 0605BP T ). However, DNA–DNA relatedness data showed that strain Kb2 T (  DSM 44215 T  NRRL B-24152 T ) could be distinguished from these two species and represented a new species within the genus Gordonia, for which the name Gordonia westfalica is proposed. Keywords : Gordonia westfalica sp. nov., polyphasic taxonomy, rubber degradation, biodegradation, cis-1,4-polyisoprene The genus Gordonia belongs to the suborder Coryne- bacterineae within the order Actinomycetales (Stacke- brandt et al., 1997). This suborder, formerly called the CMN (Corynebacterium, Mycobacterium and Nocar- dia) group, comprises bacteria that are able to syn- thesize mycolic acids (i.e. high-molecular-weight α- branched 3-hydroxy fatty acids). There are two species within this suborder that have lost the ability to synthesize mycolic acids, Corynebacterium amycola- tum and Turicella otitidis. The suborder Corynebac- terineae encompasses 10 genera, namely Corynebac- terium, Dietzia, Gordonia, Mycobacterium, Nocardia, Rhodococcus, Skermania, Tsukamurella, Turicella and Williamsia (Chun et al., 1996; Ka  mpfer et al., 1999). ................................................................................................................................................. Abbreviation : MTT, tetrazolium-[3-(4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2,5- diphenyltetrazoliumbromide]. The EMBL accession number for the 16S rDNA sequence of Gordonia westfalica DSM 44215 T is AJ312907. As well as mycolic acids, other chemotaxonomic markers are common within members of the Coryne- bacterineae, such as the type IV cell wall, according to Lechevalier & Lechevalier (1970), N-glycol-muramic acid in the peptidoglycan wall (Uchida & Aida, 1977), menaquinones with a partially saturated isoprenoid side chain (Kroppenstedt, 1982, 1985) and fatty-acid patterns composed of unbranched saturated and unsaturated fatty acid plus tuberculostearic acid (Kroppenstedt, 1985). Members of the genus Gordonia exhibit a characteristic mycolic acid chain length ranging from C  to C  ; they also synthesize the menaquinone MK-9(H  ). The homogeneity of this genus has also been proven by 16S rDNA sequence data (Rainey et al., 1995). At the time of writing, the genus Gordonia comprised 14 validly described species (see Table 1). In contrast to the originally isolated strains of the genus which were described as opportunistic pathogens in humans 02107  2002 IUMS Printed in Great Britain 1133