f Runella slithyformis gen. nov., sp. nov., a Curved, Nonflexible, Pink Bacterium

Two strains of bacteria regarded as belonging to a new species were isolated from bodies of water near Baton Rouge, La. The cells of these strains were gram-negative, curved rods, the degree of curvature varying among cells in a single culture. A pink pigment was produced on glucose-peptone-yeast extract agar. The strains were nonmotile and nonfermentative, and the guanine-plus-cytosine contents of their deoxyribonucleic acids varied from 49.3 to 49.6 mol%. The species cannot be assigned to any known genus, and therefore a new genus, Runella, is proposed, with R. slithyformis as the type species. The type strain of this species is strain 4 (= ATCC 29530). At present, it is difficult to place the genus Runella in a family.