Numerical Taxonomy Study of the Taxonomic Position of Nocardia rubra Reclassified as Gordona lentifragmenta Tsukamura nom.nov.

A numerical classification using a total of 105 characters showed that Gordona strains together with rhodochrous strains formed a cluster, suggesting that these organisms belong to the same genus. Nocardia rubra strains were incorporated into this cluster. Nocardia rubra has accordingly been transferred to the genus Gordona. As Gordona rubra would be a junior homonym of the name of a species already assigned to that genus and subsequently shown to be identical with Gordona rubropertincta, Gordona lentifragmenta Tsukamura nom.nov. has been proposed for the strains originally known under the name Nocardia rubra.