Taxonomy of Moraxellaceae fam. nov., a New Bacterial Family To Accommodate the Genera Moraxella, Acinetobacter, and Psychrobacter and Related Organisms
DNA-rRNA hybridization results showed that members of the genus Moraxella, members of the genus Psychrobacter and their relatives, members of the genus Acinetobacter, the false neisseriae, and two misnamed Alysiella strains constitute a separate genotypic cluster. A new family, Moraxellaceae, is proposed to accommodate these organisms. The genus Moraxella is the type genus. Within the Moraxellaceae two main groups can be distinguished. One group includes the Acinetobacter species. The other group can be subdivided in four subgroups consisting of (i) the authentic moraxellae (Moraxella lacunata, Moraxella nonliquefaciens, Moraxella bovis, Moraxella catarrhalis, Moraxella caviae, Moraxella ovis, Moraxella cuniculi, and two misnamed Alysiella strains), (ii) the generically misnamed taxon Moraxella osloensis, (iii) the generically misnamed taxon Moraxella atlantae, and (iv) the generically misnamed taxon Moraxella phenylpyruvica, Psychrobacter immobilis, and allied organisms. The Moraxellaceae cluster belongs to the class Proteobacteria and is a member of superfamily II, which includes the authentic pseudomonads and related organisms. It is not related to the family Neisseriaceae.