UTILIZATION OF FATTY-ACID METHYL-ESTERS FOR THE DIFFERENTIATION OF NEW XANTHOMONAS SPECIES

A database of the fatty acid profiles of the genus Xanthomonas contain ing the profiles of more than 1,200 authentic xanthomonad strains (P. Yang, L. Vauterin, M. Vancanneyt, J. Swings, and K. Kersters, Syst. Ap pl. Microbiol. 16:47-71, 1993) was reevaluated to provide data for des criptions and rapid identification of new Xanthomonas species, A total of 1,061 strains in the fatty acid database were grouped into the new species described in the classification of Vauterin et al. (L. Vauter in, B. Hoste, K. Kersters, and J. Swings, Int. J. Syst. Bacteriol, 45: 472-489, 1995), and the average fatty acid profiles of the species wer e determined to obtain a representative fatty acid profile for each sp ecies. Within each species, the relative variation in each fatty acid was calculated to determine the potential of fatty acid data for discr iminating between species, The fatty acid content of each Xanthomonns species and the relative variation in each fatty acid provide addition al data for species descriptions, With the exception of Xanthomonas ax onopodis in particular and Xanthomonas arboricola, Xanthomonas hortoru m, and Xanthomonas campestris to lesser extents, most Xanthomonas spec ies produce characteristic fatty acid profiles that can be used to dif ferentiate them from other species.