MORAXELLA-LINCOLNII SP-NOV, ISOLATED FROM THE HUMAN RESPIRATORY-TRACT, AND REEVALUATION OF THE TAXONOMIC POSITION OF MORAXELLA-OSLOENSIS

A polyphasic taxonomic study was performed to determine the relationsh ips of 10 Moraxella-like strains isolated mainly from the human respir atory tract in Sweden. Two of the strains formed a separate subgroup o n the basis of both their protein contents and their fatty acid conten ts. However, the overall protein and fatty acid profiles revealed that all 10 strains were highly related. Representative strains of the two subgroups exhibited high DNA binding values (98%) with each other and had an identical DNA base ratio (44 mol% G+C). DNA-rRNA hybridization s revealed that this taxon can be included in the genus Moraxella, whi ch is only distantly related to phenotypically similar genera, such as the genera Neisseria and Kingella. The results of an extensive phenot ypic analysis indicated that the general biochemical profile of the 10 strains conforms with the description of the genus Moraxella given in Bergey's Manual of Systematic Bacteriology. We therefore consider the se organisms members of a new Moraxella species, for which the name Mo raxella lincolnii is proposed. Furthermore, we also conclude that Mora xella osloensis belongs, genotypically as well as phenotypically, to t he genus Moraxella.