MOLECULAR PHYLOGENETIC ANALYSIS OF NITROBACTER SPP

The phylogeny of bacteria belonging to the genus Nitrobacter was inves tigated by sequencing the whole 16S rRNA gene. The average level of si milarity for the three Nitrobacter strains examined was high (99.2%), and the similarity level between Nitrobacter winogradskyi and Nitrobac ter sp. strain LL, which represent two different genomic species, was even higher (''.6%). When all of the Nitrobacter strains and their phy logenetic neighbors Bradyrhizobium and Rhodopseudomonas species were c onsidered, the average similarity level was 98.1%. When complete seque nces were used, Nitrobacter hamburgensis clustered with the two other Nitrobacter strains, while this was not the case when partial sequence s were used. The two Rhodopseudomonas palustris strains examined exhib ited a low similarity level (97.6%) and were not clustered.