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DNA Base composition of soil arthrobacters and other coryneforms from cheese and sea fish

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Abstract

The DNA base composition of 34 coryneforms isolated from different sources, and those of 20 named cultures of the generaArthrobacter, Brevibacterium,Mycobacterium, Corynebacterium andNocardia has been determined.

A preliminary study of the morphological and physiological characteristics of the new isolates, and some named cultures, led to a division into three groups:

  1. 1)

    Soil coryneforms identified as arthrobacters, completed with theArthrobacter globiformis strains ATCC 8602 and 8010.

  2. 2)

    Orange coryneforms and one white isolate from cheese, and orange coryneforms including one yellow isolate from sea fish, completed with twoBrevibacterium linens strains ATCC 9174 and 9175.

  3. 3)

    Non-orange cheese coryneforms.

DNA base composition of group (1) ranges from 65.3 to 67.0 molar % GC, suggesting that this group is genetically homogeneous. % GC values of group (2) range from 62.6 to 64.0 except for one isolate (65.6), suggesting that this group is also homogeneous. DNA base composition of group (3) ranges from 65.5 to 66.9 % GC, except for three isolates (56.5, 60.1, 60.6). It is concluded that as far as their % GC is concerned, the strains of group (3), except the threem entioned ones, may be closely related to the arthrobacters of group (1). The strains of group (2) are probably less closely related to those of the groups (1) and (3).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Laboratory of Microbiology, Agricultural University, Wageningen, the Netherlands

    W. H. J. Crombach

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  1. W. H. J. Crombach
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The author is grateful to Professor E. G. Mulder for stimulating discussions and critical corrections of the manuscript and to the Instituut voor Plantenziektenkundig Onderzoek, Wageningen, for the use of the Analytical Ultracentrifuge and to Mr. D. Maat for his help in operating this apparatus. The author is also much indebted to Professor J. De Ley, Gent, for the hospitality met with during his stay at the Laboratory for Microbiology, Gent, Belgium, for helpful discussions and kind supply of a reference DNA sample and some reference strains. The present investigation was in part supported by a grant from the Landbouwhogeschoolfonds.

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Crombach, W.H.J. DNA Base composition of soil arthrobacters and other coryneforms from cheese and sea fish. Antonie van Leeuwenhoek 38, 105–120 (1972). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02328082

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