Acholeplasma florum, a New Species Isolated from Plants

Abstract
Three acholeplasmas isolated from floral surfaces of healthy plants in Florida were found to be similar in their biochemical and serological properties. These organisms did not require serum or cholesterol for growth, although addition of some supplementary fatty acids (as represented by Tween 80) was necessary for growth to occur in serum-free medium. The three strains possessed biochemical properties typical of the Acholeplasmataceae and were distinguished from the nine previously recognized Acholeplasma species by serological and deoxyribonucleic acid-deoxyribonucleic acid hybridization techniques. The genome molecular weight of the three Acholeplasma strains was 109, and the guanine-plus-cytosine content of the deoxyribonucleic acid was 27 to 28 mol%. On the basis of these results and other morphological, biological, and serological properties, we propose that these organisms represent a new species, Acholeplasma florum. Strain L1 (= ATCC 33453) is the type strain.