Paracoccus carotinifaciens sp. nov., a new aerobic Gram-negative astaxanthin-producing bacterium

The strain E-396(T), isolated from soil, was Gram-negative, aerobic, orange -pigmented, rod-shaped, motile by peritrichous flagella and astaxanthin-pro ducing. This organism produced carotenoids, mainly astaxanthin, and did not produce bacteriochlorophyll, The ubiquinone system was Q-10, Analysis of t he 16S rRNA sequence of strain E-396(T) showed it to be a member of the alp ha-3 subclass of the Proteobacteria, forming a cluster with the species of the genus Paracoccus, On the basis of the production of orange pigments and motility by peritrichous flagella, together with DNA-DNA reassociation dat a, it is concluded that the new isolate should be classified into a new spe cies of the genus Paracoccus, Paracoccus carotinifaciens sp, nov. The type strain is E-396(T) (=IFO 16121(T)).