Rhodococcus koreensis sp. nov., a 2,4-dinitrophenol-degrading bacterium

A 2,4-dinitrophenol-degrading bacterial strain, DNP505(T), which was isolated from an industrial wastewater, was taxonomically studied by a polypbasic approach using phenotypic, chemotaxonomic and genetic methods. Strain DNP505(T) has a cell wall of chemotype IV containing meso- diaminopimelic acid, arabinose and galactose. The predominant menaquinone is MK-8(H2). Mycolic acids contain 43-53 carbon atoms. Strain DNP505(T) has a cellular fatty acid profile containing straight-chain saturated, unsaturated and 10-methyl- branched fatty acids and has C(16:0) as the major fatty acid. The DNA G+C content is 66 mol%. Strain DNP505(T) formed a coherent cluster with Rhodococcus species in a phylogenetic inference based on 16S rDNA sequences. Interestingly, strain DNP505(T) was found to have two types of 16S rDNA sequence, which showed 10 bp sequence differences (99.3 % nucleotide similarity). Its differences in some phenotypic characteristics and its genetic distinctiveness indicate that strain DNP505(T) is separate from Rhodococcus species described previously. It is therefore proposed that strain DNP505(T) should be placed in the genus Rhodococcus as a new species, Rhodococcus koreensis. The type strain of the new species is strain DNP505(T) (= KCTC 0569BP(T) = JCM 10743(T)).ope