Hydrogenophaga, a New Genus of Hydrogen-Oxidizing Bacteria That Includes Hydrogenophaga flava comb. nov. (Formerly Pseudomonas flava), Hydrogenophaga palleronii (Formerly Pseudomonas palleronii), Hydrogenophaga pseudoflava (Formerly Pseudomonas pseudoflava and "Pseudomonas carboxydoflava"), and Hydrogenophaga taeniospiralis (Formerly Pseudomonas taeniospiralis)

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Abstract
The relationships of the yellow-pigmented hydrogen-oxidizing species Pseudomonas flava, Pseudomonas pseudoflava, Pseudomonas palleronii, Pseudomonas taeniospiralis, and “Pseudomonas carboxydoflava,” which are all members of the acidovorans ribosomal ribonucleic acid (rRNA) complex in rRNA superfamily III, were studied by using deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA):rRNA hybridization, immunotyping, numerical analysis of biochemical and auxanographic features, polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis of cellular proteins, numerical analysis of fatty acid patterns, and DNA:DNA hybridization. Our results show that these five yellow-pigmented hydrogen-oxidizing Pseudomonas species are more closely related to each other than to other taxa belonging to the acidovorans rRNA complex. We propose the transfer of these species to a new genus, Hydrogenophaga, with the following four species: Hydrogenophaga flava (formerly Pseudomonas flava), Hydrogenophaga pseudoflava (to accommodate both Pseudomonas pseudoflava and “Pseudomonas carboxydoflava”), Hydrogenophaga taeniospiralis (formerly Pseudomonas taeniospiralis), and Hydrogenophaga palleronii (formerly Pseudomonas palleronii). The type species is H. flava, with monotype strain DSM 619 (= LMG 2185 = CCUG 1658). Because H. flava grows slowly and unreliably, but is genotypically and protein electrophoretically very similar to H. pseudoflava, the latter species can be used as an alternative reference taxon for the new genus. The type strains of H. pseudoflava, H. taeniospiralis, and H. palleronii are strains GA3 (= LMG 5945 = CCUG 13799). DSM 2082 (= LMG 7170 = CCUG 15921), and Stanier 362t1 (= LMG 2366t1 = CCUG 20334), respectively.