Reclassification of Subtercola pratensis Behrendt et al. 2002 as Agreia pratensis comb. nov.

Comparative analysis of 16S rDNA sequences revealed a close phylogenetic relationship (99.6 % similarity) between Subtercola pratensis Behrendt et al. 2002 and Agreia bicolorata Evtushenko et al. 2001. The two species were found to share genus-specific chemotaxonomic characteristics such as the occurrence of D-ornithine and L-2,4-diaminobutyric acid in the peptidoglycan and the profile of cellular fatty acids and 1,1-dimethoxy-alkanes. DNA-DNA relatedness of only 47.8 % and differences in phenotypic features such as the menaquinone profile and oxidase and Voges-Proskauer reactions confirmed the distinct species status of S. pratensis and A. bicolorata. On the basis of the data from phylogenetic and phenotypic analyses, the reclassification of S. pratensis as Agreia pratensis comb. nov. is proposed. As a result of this reclassification, the two genera are coherent, in that the cell wall composition and 1,1-dimethoxy-alkane spectrum are significant genus-specific characteristics.