Taxonomy of the Genus Acinetobacter Based on 16S Ribosomal RNA Gene Sequences
Mario Vaneechoutte and Thierry De Baere
from: Acinetobacter Molecular Biology (Edited by: Ulrike Gerischer). Caister Academic Press, U.K. (2008)
Abstract
The taxonomy of the genus Acinetobacter is complicated and confused. This is not only caused by the numerous and sometimes closely related species which are often impossible to differentiate from each other by phenotypical characteristics (genomic species), but also by microbiologists which have not always been careful in naming new species or in reporting correct data, e.g. when sequencing the 16S rRNA gene. Here we present the current status of the taxonomy of the genus based primarily on the 16S rRNA gene sequences, we discuss briefly the taxonomic position of the 17 nomenspecies, of the 14 genomic species and of several not yet described taxa, we comment on the validity of certain species names, arguing that the recently described A. grimontii is probably synonymous to A. junii, and compare the taxonomic value of sequence determination of the 16S rRNA gene with that of household genes like recA and rpoB for the study of the genus Acinetobacter read more ...
