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 hydrocarbons and its production of a high molecular mass bioemulsifier, emulsan. Although RAG-1 has been investigated in detail for specific biochemical characteristics, its taxonomic status is uncertain and it is usually referred to as A. lwoffii or A. calcoaceticus sensu late. However, results obtained by restriction analysis of the amplified rDNA and subsequently substantiated by DNA-DNA hybridization, partial 16S rDNA nucleotide sequence comparison and biochemical characterization indicate that RAG-1 belongs to the genomic species recently described as 'A. venetianus'. Furthermore, these data confirm that 'A. venetianus' constitutes a new and distinct genomic species within the genus Acinetobacter. (C) Elsevier, Paris.