Oil-degrading Acinetobacter strain RAG-1 and strains described as 'Acinetobacter venetianus sp nov.' belong to the same genomic species

Acinetobacter strain RAG-1 (ATCC 31012) is an industrially important strain which has been extensively characterized with respect to its growth on hyd rocarbons and its production of a high molecular mass bioemulsifier, emulsa n. Although RAG-1 has been investigated in detail for specific biochemical characteristics, its taxonomic status is uncertain and it is usually referr ed to as A. lwoffii or A. calcoaceticus sensu late. However, results obtain ed by restriction analysis of the amplified rDNA and subsequently substanti ated by DNA-DNA hybridization, partial 16S rDNA nucleotide sequence compari son and biochemical characterization indicate that RAG-1 belongs to the gen omic species recently described as 'A. venetianus'. Furthermore, these data confirm that 'A. venetianus' constitutes a new and distinct genomic specie s within the genus Acinetobacter. (C) Elsevier, Paris.