Transfer of Enterobacter agglomerans (Beijerinck 1888) Ewing and Fife 1972 to Pantoea gen. nov. as Pantoea agglomerans comb. nov. and Description of Pantoea dispersa sp. nov.

Abstract

Deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA)-DNA hybridization was performed with 10 strains belonging to the "Erwinia herbicola-Enterobacter agglomerans complex" by using the competition method on nitrocellulose filters. These strains exhibited more than 75% DNA binding to Erwinia herbicola ATCC 14589T (T = type strain) and constitute DNA hybridization group 14589 (including strains ATCC 14589T and CDC 1429-71 from DNA hybridization group III [D.J. Brenner, G.R. Fanning, J.K. Leete Knutson, A.G. Steigerwalt, and M.J. Krichevsky, Int. J. Syst. Bacteriol. 34:45-55, 1984]). The high level of genomic relatedness of these strains was confirmed by the similarities observed in their electrophoretic protein patterns. On the basis of our data, DNA hybridization group 14589 constitutes a discrete species within the family Enterobacteriaceae. Its closest relative is DNA hybridization group 27155 (41 to 53% DNA relatedness), which was previously defined and includes the type strains, among others, of Enterobacter agglomerans, Erwinia herbicola, and Erwinia milletiae (A. Beji, J. Mergaert, F. Gavini, D. Izard, K. Kersters, H. Leclerc, and J. De Ley, Int. J. Syst. Bacteriol. 38:77-88, 1988). We propose to unite DNA hybridization groups 14589 27155 in a single genus, Pantoea gen. nov. Pantoea agglomerans (Beijerinck 1888) comb. nov. is proposed to contain most strains of DNA hybridization group 27155 (including DNA hybridization group XIII of Brenner et al.), and its type strain is ATCC 27155 (= NCTC 9381 = LMG 1286). Pantoea dispersa sp. nov. is proposed to contain DNA Hybridization group 14589, and its type strain is strain ATCC 14589 (= LMG 2603). Descripitions of the genus and its two species are given.