抄録
1) In the previous part of this series of studies, a new genus, Halococcus, was discussed from the view point of the taxonomical system of the family Coccaceae and on the basis of Adanson's concept, Sneath's similarity value, and the senior author's concept of center species.
The specific characteristics of the genus Halococcus, induced theoretically are as follows: Gramnegative, spherical in shape, present in pair, aerobic, oxidase-positive, halophilic or halotolerant, and negative for acid production from glucose.
Three new species were isolated from salted fish and tested for 120 features by the authors.
2) In this experiment, the new genus was examined for about 70-80 new features, in addition to those (about 40-50 features) described in the previous part, in relation to the classical Micrococcus denitricans ATCC 13543, M. halodenitrificans ATCC 13511, and M. cryophilus ATCC 15174. These species were reoriented from the genus Micrococcus to Halococcus by the authors.
It was proved that the key features induced theoretically and the findings of the present experiment were perfectly correlated. Thus, it was considered that the taxonomy based on the concepts and methods described above might be reasonable.
3) The genus Halococcus was defined as one which has the following characteristics: Gram-negative, spherical in shape, occurring singly, in pair, in chain, or in clusters, but never in packet, aerobic, containing metachromatic bodies, halophilic or halotolerant, catalase-positive, oxidase-positive, and negative for acid production from glucose or any other carbohydrate.
4) The following tests were used to clarify the differential characteristics of the six species of the genus Halococcus: PPA test, KNO3 reduction, urease and Voges-Proskauer reaction, gelatin liquefaction, spontaneous agglutination, and red pigmentation.
5) The nomenclature of the three species of the genus Halococcus isolated by the authors was as follows: Halococcus acetoinfaciens nov. sp. (strain H7-1), Halococcus agglomegatus nov. sp. (strain H8-1), and Halococcus nondenitrificans nov. sp. (strain H11-4).
6) The species reoriented from the genus Micrococcus to Halococcus should be renamed in the following manner: Micrococcus denitrificans to Halococcus denitrificans, Microc. halodenitrificans to Haloc. halodenitrificans, and Microc. cryophilus to Haloc. cryophilus.
