TRANSFER OF ARTHROBACTER-PICOLINOPHILUS TATE AND ENSIGN 1974 TO RHODOCOCCUS-ERYTHROPOLIS

The type strain of Arthrobacter picolinophilus, strain DSM 20665 (= AT CC 27854), was found to be so closely related to strains of Rhodococcu s erythropolis that we propose that this misclassified taxon should he removed from the genus Arthrobacter and reclassified as a strain of R . erythropolis. Our conclusion is based on the results of a comparativ e analysis of the chemotaxonomic properties of the organism, including the amino acid composition of the peptidoglycan, the mycolic acid com position, and the fatty acid composition, the very similar physiologic al properties and 16S ribosomal DNA sequences, and the results of DNA- DNA reassociation experiments performed by the renaturation rate metho d.