Molecular systematics of the genus Zoogloea and emendation of the genus.

Phylogenetic relationships among strains of Zoogloea and related taxa were determined by 16S rDNA sequencing and genomic DNA hybridization techniques. The 16S rRNA gene was amplified by the polymerase chain reaction with a pair of eubacterial consensus primers and sequenced directly by using an automated fluorescent DNA sequencer. Sequence comparisons and distance matrix tree analysis revealed that Zoogloea ramigera IAM 12136 (= N. C. Dondero 106, type strain) and Zoogloea sp. ATCC 19324 formed a lineage with Rhodocyclus purpureus in the beta subclass of Proteobacteria. Z. ramigera IAM 12670 (= P. R. Dugan 115) was shown to belong to another cluster with Alcaligenes eutrophus and Pseudomonas cepacia in the beta subclass. In contrast, Z. ramigera IAM 12669 (= K. Crabtree I-16-M) proved to be a member of the alpha subclass of the Proteobacteria, closely related to Agrobacterium tumefaciens. Genomic DNA hybridization studies also showed that there is genetic diversity among the strains currently designated Z. ramigera, but typical Zoogloea strains, characterized by their production of rhodoquinones, are highly related to each other and can be regarded as a single species. On the basis of the molecular data, together with the early phenotypic and chemotaxonomic information, we have emended the generic description of Zoogloea.