Reclassification of Nocardia corynebacterioides Serrano et al. 1972 (Approved Lists 1980) as Rhodococcus corynebacterioides comb. nov.

The type strain of Nocardia corynebacterioides was the subject of a polyphasic taxonomic study. The 16S rRNA gene sequence was aligned with the sequences of representatives of the genera Corynebacterium, Dietzia, Gordonia, Mycobacterium, Nocardia, Rhodococcus, Skermania, Tsukamurella and Williamsia, and phylogenetic trees were constructed by using maximum-parsimony, maximum-likelihood and neighbour-joining methods. It was evident from the phylogenetic analysis that N. corynebacterioides represents a distinct phyletic line within the genus Rhodococcus. Menaquinone analysis showed that the organism contained dihydrogenated menaquinone with eight isoprene units, MK-8(H-2), as the major isoprenologue. The genealogical evidence, together with chemotaxonomic and phenotypic data from this and previous studies, indicates that N. corynebacterioides DSM 20151(T) (= CIP 104510(T)) should be reclassified in the genus Rhodococcus as Rhodococcus corynebacterioides comb. nov.