Arthrobacterenclensis was reported to cluster with species of the genus Pseudarthrobacter but the peptidoglycan containing lysine, alanine and glutamic acid and the presence of minor amounts of menaquinone MK-8(H4) were not in line with the description of the genus. Re-analysis of these traits revealed a peptidoglycan with l-Lys-l-Ser-l-Thr-l-Ala and no MK-8(H4), but major amounts of MK-9(H2) in the quinone system of A. enclensis DSM 25279T. These data demonstrate that A. enclensis shares the characteristics of the genus Pseudarthrobacter. Since the reported quinone systems of Pseudarthrobacterphenanthrenivorans [MK-8 and MK-9(H2)] and Pseudarthrobacterscleromae [MK-8(H2] were clearly different from those of other species of the genus, the quinone systems of the two species were re-analyzed. Since the polar lipid profile of P. phenanthrenivorans was reported to contain phosphatidylethanolamine, which is unusual for a member of the Micrococcaceae, and the polar lipid profile of P. scleromae was unknown, the polar lipids of these two species were also analysed. The quinone system of P. phenanthrenivorans DSM 18606T was composed of the major menaquinones MK-9(H2), MK-8(H2) and MK-10(H2) and that of P. scleromae DSM 17756T was composed of the major menaquinones MK-9(H2) and MK-8(H2) and MK-9. In the polar lipid profile of P. phenanthrenivorans DSM 18606T no phosphatidylethanolamine could be detected. Based on these results we here propose the reclassification of A. enclensis as Pseudarthrobacterenclensis comb. nov. and emend the descriptions of the genus Pseudarthrobacter and the two species P. phenanthrenivorans and P. scleromae.
Keywords: Pseudarthrobacter enclensis; Pseudarthrobacter phenanthrenivorans; Pseudarthrobacter scleromae; chemotaxonomy.