Bowman, J.P., Department of Microbiology, CBDI, University of Queensland, Brisbane, QLD 4072, Australia
Sly, L.I., Department of Microbiology, CBDI, University of Queensland, Brisbane, QLD 4072, Australia
Hayward, A.C., Department of Microbiology, CBDI, University of Queensland, Brisbane, QLD 4072, Australia
Spiegel, Y., Department of Microbiology, CBDI, University of Queensland, Brisbane, QLD 4072, Australia
Stackebrandt, E., Department of Microbiology, CBDI, University of Queensland, Brisbane, QLD 4072, Australia

Pseudomonas mixta (type strain, ACM 1762 [=ATCC 49108], an actively dextranolytic species that possesses both lateral and polar flagella, was compared with the strictly aerobic, rod-shaped, chitinolytic bacterium 'Pseudomonas chitinolytica' ACM 3522(T) (= CNCM I-804) (T = type strain), which has a similar flagellation pattern, by performing phenotypic characterization and DNA-DNA hybridization studies and by analyzing DNA base compositions and 16S rRNA sequences. Our results indicated that 'P. chitinolytica'. ACM 3522(T) was phenotypically and genotypically distinct from P. mixta and other phenotypically analogous Pseudomonas spp., Xanthomonas maltophilia, and other aerobic chitin degraders. The 16S rRNA sequences of strains ACM 1762(T) and ACM 3522(T) were found to be very similar (97%) to each other and indicated that these organisms are proteobacteria that belong to the β subclass. The strains were deeply branched in the β subclass and were distinct from other pseudomonads, including Pseudomonas cepacia, and from Comamonas testosteroni. On the basis of phenotypic, genotypic, and phylogenetic evidence, it is proposed that P. mixta and 'P. chitinolytica' ACM 3522(T) represent two distinct species in a new genus called Telluria. Thus, the genus Telluria gen. nov. contains Telluria mixta comb. nov. and Telluria chitinolytica sp. nov., which are strictly aerobic, rod-shaped, soil-dwelling bacteria that are active polysaccharide degraders.