%0 Journal Article %A DYKSTERHOUSE, SHERYL E. %A GRAY, JAMES P. %A HERWIG, RUSSELL P. %A LARA, J. CANO %A STALEY, JAMES T. %T Cycloclasticus pugetii gen. nov., sp. nov., an Aromatic Hydrocarbon-Degrading Bacterium from Marine Sediments %D 1995 %J International Journal of Systematic and Evolutionary Microbiology, %V 45 %N 1 %P 116-123 %@ 1466-5034 %R https://doi.org/10.1099/00207713-45-1-116 %I Microbiology Society, %X Three heterotrophic bacterial strains were isolated from different locations in Puget Sound, Washington, by using biphenyl as the principal carbon source. These strains grow by using a limited number of organic compounds, including the aromatic hydrocarbons naphthalene, phenanthrene, anthracene, and toluene, as sole carbon sources. These aerobic, gram-negative rods are motile by means of single polar flagella. Their 16S rRNA sequences indicate that they are all members of the γ subdivision of the Proteobacteria. Their closest known relatives are the genera Methylobacter and Methylomonas (genera of methane-oxidizing bacteria), uncultured sulfur-oxidizing symbionts found in marine invertebrates, and clone FL5 containing 16S ribosomal DNA amplified from an environmental source. However, the Puget Sound bacteria do not use methane or methanol as a carbon source and do not oxidize reduced sulfur compounds. Furthermore, a 16S rRNA base similarity comparison revealed that these bacteria are sufficiently different from other bacteria to justify establishment of a new genus. On the basis of the information summarized above, we describe a new genus and species, Cycloclasticus pugetii, for these bacteria; strain PS-1 is the type strain of C. pugetii. %U https://www.microbiologyresearch.org/content/journal/ijsem/10.1099/00207713-45-1-116