A PROPOSAL TO RECLASSIFY NOCARDIA-PIENSIS BLACKALL ET-AL AS SKERMANIA-PINIFORMIS GEN-NOV, COMB-NOV

The type strain of Nocardia pinensis was the subject of chemotaxonomic and 16S ribosomal DNA sequencing studies. The resultant nucleotide se quence was aligned with the sequences of representatives of the genera Corynebacterium, Dietzia, Gordona, Mycobacterium, Nocardia, Rhodococc us, and Tsukamurella, and phylogenetic trees were generated by using t he Fitch-Margoliash, maximum-parsimony, maximum-likelihood, and neighb or-joining methods. It was evident from the phylogenetic analyses that N. pinensis represents a distinct phyletic line that is most closely associated with the Gordona clade. This genealogical evidence, togethe r with chemotaxonomic and phenotypic data derived from this and previo us studies, indicates that N. pinensis merits generic status within th e family Nocardiaceae. Therefore, we propose that N. pinensis Blackall et al. 1989 be reclassified as Skermania piniformis gen. nov., comb. nov. The type strain of Skermania piniformis cleaved an array of conju gated substrates based on the fluorophores 7-amino-4-methylcoumarin an d 4-methylumbelliferone.